Speaker Profile

Veolia Australia New Zealand Chief Financial Officer, David Gerard may be the best placed executive in Australia when it comes to understanding the practical financial constraints, the opportunities and risks needed to build a sustainable circular economy.

David has been with waste, energy, water multinational corporation Veolia for 18 years, first as Finance Director and then CFO with the £2 billion UK & Ireland arm of the company before coming to Australia in 2021. He saw the company through an amalgamation of its three divisions; has led financial decisions that have propelled new innovations and major projects in the UK and Australia; and continues to progress the integration of the acquired Suez business in Australia and deal with the financial reporting that Veolia delivers through a range of statutory entities.

Along the way he has dealt with the challenges of developing and following major projects, like energy from waste plants in the UK and the ecological transformation of major mining sites, such as Woodlawn, in Australia.

When it comes to building a sustainable future driven by business he has a clear focus on the criteria required for business to successfully invest in a circular economy – the solutions must be proven to work, be scalable, and, of course, they must make money.

David is also a keen follower of cricket, although how willing he is to discuss this pastime may depend on the results of the current Ashes series.