The London SPE Net Zero Gaia committee is very excited to bring together these three exceptional individuals to lead a debate on the O&G industry's Social License to Operate (SLO). Iman, Sophie and Valentina have a wealth of experience between them and hold a variety of roles associated with positioning our industry positively for the future.

This event intends to cover questions such as:

What is SLO, has the O&G industry lost it and what are the consequences?
How do different external stakeholders view our industry's role going forward? E.g., Investors, government, activists and the general public? What are their priorities when considering energy security, affordability and decarbonisation?
Is there a lack of trust in our decarbonisation plans and what role can mandatory reporting and increased transparency play?
How do we communicate better? Do we need to focus on education or engagement?
How do we talk with positivity about our work in the O&G industry?

Please join us and bring your own questions and viewpoints to share.

Speaker biographies:

Sophie Depraz, Programme & Communications Director, Ipieca

Sophie joined Ipieca in December 1992. Ipieca is the global O&G association dedicated to advancing environmental and social performance. Sophie provides leadership and strategic direction within IPIECA, managing strategy development and its implementation as well as collaboration across Ipieca’s programme areas. Sophie is responsible for Ipieca’s communications strategy, providing leadership to communications and stakeholder engagement throughout the work programme. She played a key role in Ipieca’s engagement in the Paris Agreement and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Prior to assuming this role, Sophie managed the Oil Spill, Social Responsibility, Reporting and biodiversity programme areas.

Sophie holds a master’s degree in Environmental Communications from University Paris VII and graduated from ESSEC International Business School. She also has a French Baccalaureate in Economics and Social Sciences.

Dr Valentina Kretzschmar, Energy Transition Director, Capricorn

Dr Valentina Kretzschmar has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector. She is an expert on the energy transition of the oil and gas sector into clean energies.

In her current role as Energy Transition Director at Capricorn Energy, she is responsible for the development of Capricorn’s sustainability strategy aimed at delivering the company’s net-zero target by 2040.

Valentina joined Capricorn in 2021, after 18 years at Wood Mackenzie, where she served as Vice President of Corporate Research, leading the development of Corporate New Energy Research. Previously, Valentina worked as a Petroleum Engineer with Edinburgh Petroleum Services Ltd and Research Fellow in the Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh.

She is an Advisory Board Member at CauswayGT – a geothermal company. She also held a non-executive director role on the board of NHST Global Media (Norway).

Valentina has a BEng Honours Degree in Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London, a PhD in Clean Coal Technology from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA (Finance) from Durham University. Valentina is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng. MIMechE) and holds a Non-executive Director Diploma.

Evelyn Maclean, Workforce Energy Taskforce Director, IOGP

Evelyn MacLean was appointed International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) Director of Workforce Energy Task Force in February of 2021.

Evelyn is a Supply Chain professional with over 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry with extensive global expertise in the procurement and supply chain aspects of the industry, in service of exploration, major developments, and production operations, both onshore and offshore.

Evelyn began her career in the North Sea with Halliburton Brown and Root and fulfilled a variety of roles whilst based in the UK and North America. In 2007, she joined bp to lead various transformation projects and became Global Vice President of Procurement and Supply Chain Management for Global Wells Organization in 2009. In 2015, she joined Hess Corporation and served as their Chief Procurement Officer until 2020.

She holds a master’s degree from INSEAD in Consulting and Coaching for Change, and a bachelor’s degree in Management from Bellevue University, and has studied Law at Aberdeen University and Psychology at Inverness Technical College. Evelyn is a Certified Business and Personal Coach and recently gained an Executive Certificate in Management & Leadership from MIT.

London SPE Net Zero Gaia Event: Social License to Operate