Based in Climateworks’ Perth office, Kylie leads the Sustainable Economies system team, pursuing sustainable pathways towards net zero by focusing on how we can accelerate systems change in line with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees in national and sub-national economies.

The Sustainable Economies system supports key stakeholders to engage on net zero strategies and aligned policy that encourages green economic diversification, taking into consideration the economic and development co-benefits that a shift towards sustainable economies can deliver.

Kylie was most recently the program impact manager for the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative, working with heavy industry, finance companies and government to develop decarbonisation pathways aligned to limiting warming to 1.5℃.

Kylie has worked in government, business, and the not-for-profit sector in public affairs roles, focusing on stakeholder engagement. Her speciality is building collaborative relationships and alignment to facilitate transformation.

Kylie holds a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration with RMIT and is currently studying for a Masters in Business Administration, also with RMIT.

Leila Pourarkin is a Partner at Kaya Partners, where she leads on the firm’s activities around international climate finance, blended finance, and emerging economies. Before joining Kaya, Leila was Deputy Director for International Climate Finance at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in the UK, where she headed the International Climate Finance team responsible for building deep and lasting climate partnerships with countries, underpinned by a portfolio of technical assistance programmes aimed at building capacity for accelerated climate action (UK PACT, 2050 Calculator, NDC Partnership, and the Climate Finance Accelerator). Prior to this, she held a range of leadership roles within the UK’s International Climate Finance and International Climate Negotiations teams. She led the BEIS International Private Climate Finance Portfolio and was an EU climate negotiator in the run up to the Paris Agreement and headed the UK Delegation in the UNFCCC.

Leila holds a Master of Public Administration, Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from ESCP Europe Business School.

Christiaan is the Director of Decarbonisation at Fortescue and is responsible for ensuring the company meets its scope 1 and 2 “Real Zero” decarbonisation commitments in a commercially attractive way.
Prior to joining Fortescue, Christiaan worked at McKinsey for 19 years, including 10 years as Partner where he established their Perth office in 2012. Preceding this, Christiaan founded an eLearning start up in Singapore and London. Christiaan has extensive experience in decarbonisation in the mining and power sector including system design and planning. Christiaan holds a Masters Degree in Applied Physics with a specialisation in Material Science at the University of Groningen.

Purdie leads ASFI’s climate policy and sustainable finance solutions work. Prior to this role, she designed and managed catalytic blended finance initiatives for DFAT. She has a background in climate finance and international climate policy and in 2021 was instrumental in advising the Commonwealth Government on its climate finance target and strategy. From 2014-2017, Purdie was a lead negotiator for Australia at the UNFCCC Paris Agreement negotiations. Prior to this she worked as a solicitor in the energy and environment teams at King & Wood Mallesons. She holds a Masters of Environment from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University.

Ryan Neelam is Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute. He leads the Institute’s work on climate diplomacy and is the author of its annual flagship publication, the Lowy Institute Poll.

Prior to joining the Lowy Institute in 2023, Ryan served as an Australian diplomat for 14 years including in Hong Kong as Deputy Consul-General, and at United Nations Headquarters as Australia’s lead on climate and sustainable development. He has managed key diplomatic relationships, developed policy, and represented Australia on global economic, climate change, human rights, and peace and security issues. Ryan holds a Bachelor of Economics and Social Sciences (Honours) from the University of Sydney.