The inaugural BPFI Sustainable Finance Conference 2024 took place on Wednesday 24th April and we were delighted to see such a great turnout from banks, businesses and state bodies that filled up the Banking Hall at the College Green Hotel.
The conference was moderated by Louise O’Mahony, BPFI Head of Sustainable Banking with an opening keynote address from Laura Burke, Environmental Protection Agency on the status of government actions to support Ireland’s transition to a decarbonised economy. This was followed by a welcome address from Brian Hayes, Chief Executive, BPFI. Minister Eamon Ryan gave an insightful and inspiring keynote address.
The first panel was moderated by Barry Gavin, UCD Smurfit Business School who discussed Financing Ireland’s Climate Transition with Donna Wilson, AIB, Damien Pidgeon, Bank of Ireland, Leontia Fannin, PTSB and Laura Quinn, TD Securities.
The next panel moderated by Sarah Moran, KPMG Sustainable Futures, looked at the commercial case of sustainable business practices with panellists Lorraine Fitzgerald, Glenveagh Properties, JP McGrath, Bord na Móna, James Delahunt, KPMG Corporate Finance and David Tobin, Beauparc Utilities. This session closed with pre-recorded remarks on the Adaptation Finance Framework by Alex Kennedy, Standard Chartered.
The final session focused on Usability of the Sustainability Finance Framework with opening remarks by Derek Lawlor, Simmons & Simmons and a keynote address by Meri Rimmanen, European Banking Authority. Derek Lawlor moderated the panel discussion which examined banks’ NetZero transition plans in the context of elevated transition risks and the significant and evolving sustainable finance regulatory regime. The panel comprised of senior European supervisors and international banking experts – Meri Rimmanen, Gemma Sanchez-Danes, EFRAG, Linda van Goor, EU Regulatory Expert, Maire-Gwenhaelle Geffroy, BNP Paribas.
We would also like to thank our conference sponsors KPMG and Simmons & Simmons and the Institute of Banking who sponsored the Networking Lunch.
