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Irish Climate Summit 2021 • Online conference

Sponsored by

EY

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Irish Climate Summit About the conference

The inaugural Irish Climate Summit recently took place online. The 2021 summit sponsored by EY Ireland brought together key stakeholders to examine the latest ambitions, challenges and opportunities of Ireland’s response to the climate crisis.

A range of expert speakers, local and visiting looked at issues including:

  • Implications of an Irish Climate Act
  • European climate policy outlook
  • Impact of climate action on the business sector
  • Role of local government in Ireland’s climate agenda
  • The economics of climate action
  • Climate leaders’ debate: energy; agriculture; and transport

Keynote speakers included, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal at the European Commission, Frans Timmermans and the first female President of Ireland; former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice, Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders, Mary Robinson.

A hurricane over Yemen.
On the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, sand dunes are encroaching onto once-fertile lands in the north. Healthy vegetation appears red in this image; in the center, notice the lone red dot. It is the result of a center-pivot irrigation system, evidence that at least one optimistic farmer continues to work the fields despite the approaching sand.
Lines and shapes etched into the surface of Antarctica's Robinson Glacier hint at the slow but inevitable movements of this giant river of ice. Patterns of lines may be icefalls, where a glacier cascades over rock, or a series of crevasses, massive cracks that form as different parts of a glacier move at slightly different speeds. Robinson Glacier flows down to the continent's coast, where glacial ice meets mammoth slabs of sea ice caught in the frigid embrace of the Southern Ocean.

Conference themes Themes to be discussed

The Irish Climate Summit comes at a pivotal juncture and will examine the latest ambitions, challenges and opportunities of Ireland’s response to the climate crisis. Topics covered in the summit programme will include:

  1. National climate objectives
  2. Stronger climate governance
  3. Youth climate activism in Ireland
  4. The European Commission’s first European Climate Law
  5. An enhanced role for the Climate Change Advisory Council
  6. Work of the Oireachtas Climate Action Committee
  7. Promoting environmental awareness
  8. Investing in net-zero climate solutions
  9. Just transition and climate justice
  10. Climate leaders’ debate
  11. The role of local government in responding to climate change
  12. Community-led transitioning to a low-carbon future
  13. Covid-19, emissions, and air quality
  14. International climate politics

Conference format Online conference

We have invested in a professional online platform which will allow speakers and delegates to follow the normal structure of a conference. This will include: