Sustainability in Licensing Conference 2023 speaker line-up revealed

The Sustainability in Licensing Conference will present the next era in licensing industry sustainability when it makes its grand return to the Royal Geographical Society in London on Tuesday, November 8

Team GB, the LEGO Group, Tesco, and the United Nations are just some of the industry’s bravest and boldest pioneers of transformation now confirmed among the speaker line-up at this year’s Sustainability in Licensing Conference.

On Wednesday, November 8, the Sustainability in Licensing Conference (SiLC) will make its grand return to the Royal Geographical Society in London where the one-day event will tackle some of the biggest conversations in industry sustainability right now, including incoming legislative changes, innovative new technologies, the development of pioneering new circular economic systems, and much more.

SiLC 2023 will once again be an in-person event as well as live-streamed to audiences around the globe. Both in-person and digital-only tickets are available to book now.

Industry giants the LEGO Group, the Walt Disney Company, Bravado, Difuzed, and DK Books will share a stage with leading names in retail, including Tesco, Asda, and Lush, as well as key players in industry sustainable development, Dayrize, Fabacus, Upcycle Labs, and Yellow Octopus to present what has been pinpointed as a new era for licensing.

The landscape, we know, is evolving. Here in Europe and the UK, Extended Producer Responsibility is coming. So too are the effects of the European Green Deal, the obligations of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, refined Greenwashing regulations, and across the Atlantic, the impact of the Green Guides. As the United Nations draws up its Plastic Treaty and the EU begins to embed its Nature Restoration Law, we can expect some seismic shifts in the way businesses operate.

SiLC 23 will be hosting a special session – delivered by James George, POC’s Ambassador for Circularity and Mike Swain, POC’s Ambassador for Packaging – dedicated to exploring the latest legislation updates you cannot afford to miss.

Taxation isn’t the only change coming. Companies will soon enough be required to measure and track their carbon, The LEGO Group has already put it on record it will begin the process of measuring the carbon of all its activities from as early as 2024, showing real leadership in the conversation.

Carbon Calculation will be critical, which is why SiLC 23 will be delivering a special talk from the Carbon Literacy Project’s co-founder and director of advocacy, Phil Korbel to understand more. Meanwhile, a special session hosted by POC’s Ambassador for Sport, Simon Gresswell will feature conversation with Scott Field, marketing director at Team GB and Rishi Jain, director of impact at Liverpool FC as they explore sustainability in sports merchandise and licensing.

The London setting will go on to play host to some truly ground-breaking and era-defining collaborations as Dayrize takes to the stage to showcase the technological solutions it is bringing to the industry before Fabacus and the ethical clothing brand Nobody’s Child talk attendees through the Digital Product Passport.

Poetic Brands, Upcycle Labs, Yellow Octopus, and Asda will showcase a circular system of managing textile at play, while Hasbro, Wastebuster, and Tesco will talk attendees through the launch and trial of the cross-sector campaign, Recycle to Read.

The Conference will also be making its return with a slew of major sponsors who have shown their support for SiLC, Products of Change, and the development of an industry-wide approach to sustainability.

“Conferences such as SiLC drive the voice of the industry and amplify the need for change across every scope,” said Andy Downie, commercial director at Dreamtex, a returning supporter of the Sustainability in Licensing Conference.

“We strive to do our best by the environment and are always looking for new ways to improve. We cannot wait for SiLC 2023 and are proud to be supporting such an amazing voice of the industry.”

Last year’s event made licensing industry history as the first in-person conference devoted to the cross-sector and cross-industry collaborative drive to educate and inform sustainable change across the $340bn global brand licensing industry and beyond. Billed “one of the most important for decades,” by industry innovator, Richard North, ceo of Wow! Stuff, SiLC 2022 delivered a jam-packed line-up of speakers designed to encourage and inspire action.

This year, the conversation has evolved while the mission remains the same. SiLC 2023 will deliver a full-day’s content developed to showcase the many solutions that are beginning to be presented and adopted in response to the growing demands.

Maxine Lister, head of licensing at the Natural History Museum, said: “Aside from the engaging panels and discussions on offer, SiLC was equally valuable to be able to further expand on these discussions with other attendees between sessions.

“It was fascinating to hear from the likes of LEGO and Primark to understand how such dominant companies are approaching their sustainability journey, as well as getting some great insight from the senior packaging manager at Tesco as to how they continue to evolve their packaging output to be more sustainable while educating their consumer.

“We took a huge amount from the conference, much of which has since steered our own approach to sustainability within our own licensing programme.”

A special keynote address from Caroline Petit, the Deputy Director for the United Nations’ Regional Information Centre will open the day’s proceedings as Caroline takes the chance to speak directly with the licensing industry about the overarching ambition of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the role businesses like ours will have to play in helping us reach them.

Helena Mansell-Stopher, ceo and founder of Products of Change, the team behind SiLC 2023, said: “This year, SiLC 23 will be showcasing the solutions and answers to questions we have all been asking. 

“The narrative woven through each session this year not only provides attendees the thinking space for how to progress their own journeys with sustainability but presents some hugely exciting and defining technologies and solutions as to how we, as an industry, can really start to move things forward.

“We cannot wait to celebrate a global industry in transition and believe the Sustainability in Licensing Conference 2023 will be one to remember as the moment a new era for more responsible and sustainable licensing was ushered in.”