This year’s event will examine how organisations can bring forward the sustainable finance agenda in an increasingly challenging policy environment. In contrast to previous years, the Climate agenda is contesting with renewed security and energy concerns and pressing humanitarian challenges – such as the ongoing war in Ukraine and the continuing international response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Within that context, the CFWI22 agenda will focus on articulating the progress achieved to date on catalysing funding for the transition through the European green deal and sustainable finance agenda, while also bringing biodiversity onto the agenda as a new area of strategic importance.

The scope of Climate Finance Week extends beyond the work of the Department of Finance, and includes the EU and international agenda on decarbonisation. The event has become an important platform for international organisations, such as the UN, the EU and the World Bank/IMF, as well as leading private sector firms including AIB and ILIM, to articulate the need for an acceleration of the climate finance agenda and to highlight the positive leadership steps that Ireland is taking across the ESG agenda.

It provides opportunities for the public and private sectors to highlight the progress being achieved with initiatives such as the listing of green and social bonds by the World Bank and AIB, the adoption of international standards such as the TCFD by firms like ILIM, and the roll-out of the core pillars of the EU’s sustainable finance agenda.

This year’s event marks the first since the launch of the Sustainable Finance Ireland’s ‘Sustainable Finance Roadmap’ in 2021. This policy document was developed in conjunction with the Department of Finance, UNDP FC4S, Sustainable Finance Ireland, as well as other stakeholders, as a priority measure under the Government strategy for International Financial Services, ‘Ireland for Finance’.

The Roadmap sets out how Ireland, as a jurisdiction, can met the challenges that climate change presents while maximising the opportunities that the transition creates. It sets out a deliberate plan to capitalise on the opportunities in fintech and regtech that Climate Finance is generating as well as providing support and direction for stakeholders on how best to approach climate finance.

Talent development is at the heart of Ireland’s Climate Finance policy and central to the success achieved to date by creating the awareness and the capacity for organisations to be able to engage with the challenges that new standards bring. Working in partnership with industry, the Skillnet Ireland supported Sustainable Finance Skillnet has delivered world class training programmes that are showcased during Climate Finance Week.

These programmes achieve an important strategic balance between the needs of the financial services sector in Ireland with developing courseware that supports compliance with EU standards and legislation and aligns to the wider sustainable development goals and the requirements of international organisations for upskilling.

A host of world-leading speakers is planned for CFWI22 with previous speakers including European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, Michael Bloomberg, Mark Carney, former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairperson Mary Schapiro, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner, Paschal Donohoe, T.D, and more.

Climate Finance Week Ireland has undergone exponential growth in the 5 years since its inception, going from 600 attendees in 2018 to over 5.5 thousand at last year’s event, and seeing event social media impressions increase from over 280,000 to 10.4 million across the same time period.