Keynote speaker announced for Sustainable Business Series conference
Rachel Skinner CBE, an executive director at WSP, will be delivering a keynote address at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) Sustainable Business Series Conference.
The event takes place at Conference Aston on Thursday morning.
The Sustainable Business Series is the Chambers flagship campaign on environmental sustainability, supporting businesses in their Net Zero journey.
In 2020-21, Rachel (pictured) served as the 156th president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) with a theme of climate action. She is the youngest ever to have fulfilled this role in over 200 years. She is a patron of Women in Transport (a not-for-profit), having been one of its founding board members since 2005.
A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a chartered engineer and a chartered transport planner, Rachel was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leeds for services to transport, engineering and industry diversity and is an honorary fellow of the Society for the Environment.
Rachel was awarded a CBE for services to infrastructure in the 2022 New Year Honours list.
At present, Rachel chairs the Infrastructure Carbon workstream of the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG), the ICE’s Decarbonisation Advisory Board. She served two years as an Infrastructure Commissioner for Scotland from late 2018. In 2021 she was invited to chair a new UK Department for Transport Taskforce that is focused on employment and skills.
In 2016, Rachel was listed as one of The Telegraph’s inaugural UK Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering; in 2017 she was named the Most Distinguished Winner and Best Woman Civil Engineer at the Women in Civil Engineering Awards, and in 2019 she was confirmed by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Top 100 Women in Engineering. In 2023, Rachel was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Transport Award at the National Transport Awards and was also a finalist in the Environment Analyst Awards for Global Sustainability Leader of the Year.
Kuran Singh, policy advisor at the GBCC said: “We are delighted that Rachel is joining us to deliver a keynote address at our upcoming Sustainable Business Series conference.
“There are a number of challenges that businesses will face in achieving Net Zero. Rachel’s background as the Chair of ICE’s Decarbonisation Advisory Board will provide businesses with a unique understanding, on the impact of Net Zero on businesses”
"I very much encourage interested readers to register their place at the conference to hear from Anne and an array of other expert speakers from across Greater Birmingham."
Click here to register for the Sustainable Business Series Conference.
