Sean Kidney, chairman, Climate Bonds Initiative. He was in Galway last week for the conference on sustainability
Experts in green finance and clean tech speak about Ireland’s opportunity to innovate and capitalise on its clean energy, ICT and financial expertise to become a global exemplar and an exporter of scale of renewable energy.
Last week, a sustainability conference – Enabling, Financing and Delivering Sustainable Growth Summit – took place in Galway City. More than 150 delegates from the finance, clean-tech, venture capital and sustainability sectors, as well as policy-makers, converged at the conference to share ideas.
Here in this video extract, we hear from experts in the finance, climate bonds and green business space who talk about Ireland’s opportunity.
Firstly, Sean Kidney, chairman, Climate Bonds Initiative, speaks about how Ireland can tap into its expertise and how the country has the chance to export its renewable energy knowledge, particularly pointing to the smart grid, energy storage technologies and financial products.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte, TD, talks about the interaction in Ireland between ICT and energy and how clean tech is an exciting area for the future.
David Guest, chairman, Green IFSC Steering Group, talks about the global shortage of capital and innovative financial structures to make alternative energy projects work. In contrast, he speaks about Ireland’s International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and how it is applying these financing structures to the green economy.
Coillte CEO David Gunning speaks about how Ireland can be a significant exporter of energy from a wind, biomass and offshore wind generation point of view.
And, finally, Dublin City Council’s green business officer Mark Bennett speaks about the growth areas of Ireland’s green economy.
More reports and video to come this week from the sustainability summit.
WATCH THE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE
