Nelson Switzer, Director, Corporate Responsibility, Direct Energy
Nelson Switzer works as a strategic sustainability advisor to Direct Energy, North America’s largest integrated energy solutions company.  As a senior advisor on issues ranging from climate change and carbon management to vulnerable customers, risk management and governance, Nelson is helping Direct Energy understand and abate the impacts of their operations on the environment and the communities in which we live and work.

For more than a decade, Nelson has helped international businesses integrate the principles of sustainable management into their operating strategies – reducing risk, identifying opportunities and protecting and enhancing reputation and shareholder returns.  Nelson believes that the best way to affect change is by raising internal and external awareness and forging partnerships.  To this end, he works with business, government, non-governmental organizations, media and other stakeholders to move the sustainability agenda forward.

Nelson is a member of the International Institute for Sustainable Development Advisory Panel on Climate Change as well as the Strategic Steering Committee on Business Management and Sustainability with the Canadian Standards Association.  Nelson holds a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Toronto and is a certified presenter of Al Gore’s Climate Project.