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Governance Conference 2021 – Boards and Sustainability

Focusing on boards and sustainability, Governance Conference 2021 will bring business leaders, professional advisors and investors together to discuss how boards can embed sustainability within their organisations and the important role boards and their organisations can play in nurturing sustainable economies.

Format

This conference will be hosted on our dedicated conference platform
Thursday 22 April 2021 9:30am - 12:30pm
Link will be emailed to participants the day before the course
€112.50/£82 (€90/£78 to members of Chartered Accountants Ireland)

Book Now – Governance Conference 2021

Agenda

Opening and welcome (Paul Henry, President, Chartered Accountants Ireland and Níall Fitzgerald, Head of Ethics and Governance).
Address from An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and Northern Ireland's Economy Minister, Diane Dodds: Government priorities to drive sustainability and climate action as a positive contributor to the economies of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Barry Dempsey, Chief Executive, Chartered Accountants Ireland, interviews John Moloney, Chair of DCC plc and NED on the board of Smurfit Kappa: How the board embeds and monitors sustainability in the strategy.
Panel discussion - Executive perspective: Implementing sustainability objectives, measuring, and reporting progress.
Mardi McBrien, CEO, Climate Disclosures Standards Board in the UK – How organisations can measure and report on their sustainability initiatives effectively.
Panel discussion - Investor perspective: how investors assess an organisation and its board and what they expect from them in relation to sustainability.
Interview with Karina Litvack, Executive Board Director of Chapter Zero, Co-Founder of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative, and NED: How NEDs can engage effectively in a strategic debate about the climate challenge for their businesses.

Download the agenda here

Keynote | An Taoiseach Micheál Martin

Micheál Martin TD has served as Taoiseach since June 2020 and as Leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011.

Keynote | Economy Minister Diane Dodds

Diane Dodds, MLA is Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland.

Speakers

Paul Henry FCA, President, Chartered Accountants Ireland – Paul is also the Chair of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies. He is a Director in Osbourne King, a real estate services company based in Northern Ireland specialising in commercial property, where he leads the advisory and consultancy service.

Níall Fitzgerald FCA, Head of Ethics and Governance, Chartered Accountants Ireland – Níall leads the delivery of strategic objectives on business ethics and governance across operations, including policy, member support and resources, and engagement with regulators, standard setters and other stakeholders. Níall is a member of the Institute’s Sustainability Expert Working Party and is passionate about internal implementation of sustainability initiatives and applying sustainability reporting frameworks.

John Moloney, Non-Executive Chair, DCC plc – John is also the Chair of Governance and Sustainability Committee of DCC plc and a Member of their Remuneration Committee, a Non-Executive Director of Smurfit Kappa plc and Chair of ABP Food Group. He has extensive top management and board level experience, having held the position of Group Managing Director of Glanbia plc until November 2013. John was previously a Non-Executive Director of Greencore Group plc.

Barry Dempsey, Chief Executive, Chartered Accountants Ireland – Barry is also a Member of the Irish Takeover Panel, Board Member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide and Board Member of the Global Accounting Alliance. Previously, Barry was CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation, Peter Mark and the Irish Cancer Society. He is committed to the benefits sustainability initiatives offer businesses, the accountancy profession, communities and the economy.

Mardi McBrien, Managing Director, Climate Disclosures Standards Board (CDSB) – Mardi is also a Member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Stakeholder Council, trustee of the International Tree Foundation and a founding board member of Women Organising for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN). She leads the CDSB, an internationally renowned organisation that works to provide decision-useful environmental information to markets via mainstream corporate reports.

Karina Litvack, Co-Founder of Chapter Zero – Karina is also the Co-Founder of World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative, Non-Executive Director of ENI spa (an Italian Oil and Gas company), Non-Executive Director of Viridor Waste Management Limited and Governor of Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Karina’s passion for leading climate change initiatives follows a 25-year career in finance, latterly running the Governance and Sustainable Investment activities of UK asset manager F&C Investments.

Panellists

Marie Joyce FCA, Chief Financial Officer, NTR plc – Marie is a Non-Executive Director of the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA). She leads the fundraising for and subsequent acquisition, construction and operation of NTR’s renewable energy funds, comprising onshore wind and solar assets across Western Europe.

Suzanne Keane CFA – Suzanne is a senior equity portfolio manager at Amundi Asset Management, where she is the lead portfolio manager for European Equity ESG Improvers, within its flagship ESG Improvers range, which incorporates a forward looking, dynamic approach to ESG investing. Suzanne was previously Head of Credit Research (for developed markets) within Amundi (formerly Pioneer Investments) from 2016 to 2018, where she was instrumental in integrating ESG into the credit research process.

Kieran McLoughlin FCCA, Managing Partner, VentureWave Capital – Kieran is a Non-Executive Director of the Glucksman Ireland House NYU, North American Advisory Board Member of UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, trustee of the John and Pat Hume Foundation and is a former Worldwide President and CEO of the Ireland Funds.

John Sadlier, Chief Sustainability Officer, the Ardagh Group – John, who also served as the Chief Procurement Officer of the company, is responsible for managing all aspects of Ardagh’s sustainability agenda. Prior to joining the Ardagh Group in 2007, he worked for Ricoh, Munekata Ireland, Dell and Microsoft Ireland Operations.

Alistair Brew FCA, Head of Investment Operations, BGF – Alistair runs the Investment Committee process and leads BGF’s ESG programme. Alistair has 18 years’ experience in small company investing and has led investments into over 30 businesses. Previously, he worked at Close Brothers and then at Octopus Ventures. Alistair began his career at Price Waterhouse with direct entry into the Business Recovery Services team.

Keith Morrow FCA is a project leader in the technology sector, currently working in NortonLifeLock, the cybersafety company. Previously, he worked with Veritas Technologies, Symantec, JP Morgan Chase and GE Capital, having trained as an accountant, with Coopers & Lybrand. He is a member of the Council of Chartered Accountants Ireland and is the chair of its Ethics and Governance Committee. He has held a number of board positions in the charity and non-profit sector and is currently a board member of Hockey Ireland.

Chris Martin, Head of Climate Risk & Strategy, Danske Bank – Chris has over 25 years’ experience in financial services. He is responsible for developing Danske’s strategic response to climate change with a focus on both the risks and opportunities arising, along with developing solutions to help Danske customers make the transition to a net zero carbon future.

Kevin O'Sullivan – Kevin is Environment & Science Editor and lead journalist reporting on climate change with The Irish Times. He served as Editor of the paper from 2011 to 2017. He joined The Irish Times in 1997 as Environmental and Food Science Correspondent. In his current role, he has taken a particular interest in sustainability, renewable energy and biodiversity.