ACCA Ireland's Business Leaders Forum panel, Connaught Panel and Ulster Panel are inviting you to our online 'Sustainability Matters' session, which will be delivered by Catherine Duggan (Head of Sustainability – Financial Services Advisory, GT) and Kevin Hegarty (Director of Green Growth & Climate Change at the NI Executive).
This online seminar will take place on Wednesday 21st September 2022.
In the last few years, the topic of sustainability, and climate change in particular have quickly moved up the political agenda. While significant global agreements like the UN Sustainable Development Goals and The Paris Climate Agreement may feel remote, these key policies are now influencing local regulation and beginning to impact business on the ground. The volume of regulation, pace of change, and noise associated with it can feel overwhelming. In this presentation Catherine will
• Outline the hierarchy of sustainability policy;
• Discuss the objectives behind the regulation that has cascaded from it;
• Consider what is coming next.
The Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 has set a net zero target for 2050. This will have an enormous impact on all sectors. NI’s first Climate Action Plan is to be published in December 2023 and this will set out sector targets as well as proposals and policies to meet these targets. But the journey to net zero is about much more than just decarbonisation. The will be opportunities for economic growth as sectors pivot and develop. Equally we must ensure that our wider environment is protected and enhanced. This approach we call “Green Growth” where we pursue net zero in a balanced way – climate, environment and the economy. In the presentation Kevin will talk about
• NIs first Climate Change Act;
• Our Green Growth approach;
• The costs and challenges to deliver net zero; and
• The key role private finance will play.
About the speakers
Catherine Duggan Head of Sustainability – Financial Services Advisory
Catherine is a senior energy/sustainability specialist with 15 years global experience, who joined Grant Thornton in 2021 to lead the sustainability offering in Financial Services. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for 13 years with FTSE listed Tullow Oil, holding both technical and non-technical roles with responsibility for portfolio management, business performance and risk, working extensively with multidisciplinary teams and increasingly focusing on ESG issues. Working in an industry at the forefront of transitional risk, she has first-hand experience of the impacts of sustainability related issues on both day to day operations and long term strategy
She holds a Ph.D. in Geology from Trinity College Dublin, a science integral to the understanding of climate change, a Business Sustainability Management qualification from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and is a GRI certified sustainability professional. Catherine is skilled in sustainability, transitional risk, scenario planning and working cross functionally to deliver integrated products. In her most recent role, she led non-technical risk identification and mitigation strategies for multi million dollar investments in South America, embedding them into ‘business as usual’ operations. She is now applying her industry experience to the financial sector, with a particular focus on banking and the risks and opportunities the transition to a low carbon economy presents.
Kevin Hegarty - Director of Green Growth & Climate Change at the NI Executive
Kevin is the Director of Green Growth and Climate Action within DAERA leading the development of the NI Executive’s Green Growth Strategy and on Northern Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan. Kevin joined the team early in 2021 from the Strategic Investment Board where he was Head of the Energy Management Unit and a Strategic Adviser on Energy to the NI Civil Service. Prior to that he was Acquisitions, Development & Policy Manager for ESB. Kevin has held senior roles with Airtricity as Head of Onshore Development and with E-ON North America as Chief Development Officer.
Kevin has over 25 years’ experience working in the public, private and utility sectors and has spent his entire career addressing the climate challenge. Kevin holds a BSc in Environmental Planning from Queens University Belfast and an MSc in Rural Development also from QUB.