Masters student at Trinity College Dublin, MSc in Environmental Science; Volunteer at Green Team Network
The Green Team Network (GTN)’s first in-person networking event of the year was kindly hosted by MUFG Investor Services in their fantastic new offices on George’s Quay, Dublin. The event was kicked off by Karen Cameron, CEO of MUFG Fund Services (Ireland) Limited, followed by Aedín O'Leary, co-founder of GTN who provided a run-down on GTN’s most recent activity and a preview of plans for 2025.
Photos:
L-R: Gerry Sugrue (Consultant) & Karen Cameron (MUFG Investor Services)
Former Minister Eamon Ryan with GTN Co-founders (L-R): Ann Shiels, Suzanne Senior, Aedín O'Leary
L-R: Edel O'Malley (basis.point), Brian O'Kennedy (Goodbody Clearstream), Mina Dawood (Byrne Wallace Shields)
Green Team Network – Recap & Ambition for 2025
Reflecting on GTN’s core focus areas -
1. Education & Learning / 2. Engagement & Collaboration / 3. Enabling & Resourcing – O’Leary noted some significant milestones achieved to date.
Looking towards the future, O’Leary unveiled the Green Team Network’s plans for 2025 emphasising the importance of continued collaborations and volunteers in delivering these plans. She thanked GTN’s existing volunteers for their invaluable work to date and invited other interested parties to get involved by volunteering, sponsoring, providing resources etc. She also delivered a message from a recent event at which former President Mary Robinson, stressed the effectiveness of a “Meitheal*” approach and advised to “never underestimate the strength of community and the power of the collective”. O’Leary also thanked MUFG Investor Services for agreeing to be Green Team Network’s first official corporate sponsor for 2025.
*Meitheal: an old Irish term describing how neighbours would all pull together together - to differing degrees depending on their capacity – to save the crops.
Launch of Funds Industry Climate Challenge 3.0
Jack Lee, Head of Product Development at MUFG Investor Services, announced the launch of the funds industry Climate Challenge 2025 and the intention to build on the previous two years' success with even greater levels of participation and engagement. The Challenge will take place over 2 weeks from Monday, 31 March to Monday, 14 April and companies can find out more and sign up for the Challenge here:
Fireside Chat with former Minister Eamon Ryan
The event ended with an open and insightful interview with former Minister Éamon Ryan, conducted by Sarah Bradley, Partner at Grant Thorton. Ranging from Ryan’s own personal history (a spark was lit in him as a teenager, thanks to a teacher introducing him to studying ecology), to identity politics and geopolitics, this wide-ranging conversation gave an insight into where we currently stand in face of the Climate Crisis.
Ryan struck a note of solidarity when addressing the issues of today, reminding us that “this [the Climate Crisis] belongs to everyone, and every political persuasion …. It is not something we can stop and start”.Addressing the impact of the recent US presidential election, and the roles of regulation and innovation in keeping Europe competitive, Ryan remarked: “Change at the scale we are talking about is not easy and it’s not popular; however, we have no choice but to advance the new Green Deal as a competitive strategy. Europe is not going to be competitive burning other people’s fossil fuel …. we have competitive advantage by being good at renewable energy”.
The interview concluded with Ryan reflecting on his four-decade career with the Green Party. In that time, he believes that Climate Change as a concern has ebbed and flowed in and out of the public consciousness. Voicing optimism, Ryan concluded “the tide will come back… and when it does, we need to be ready.”
Top Row L-R:
L-R: Deirdre O'Reilly (Independent Director), Aedín O'Leary (Independent Director & GTN), Former Minister Eamon Ryan;
L-R: Siobhán Moran (CACEIS), Dermot Hanley (Independent Director), Eamon Ryan;
L-R: Suzanne Senior (BlackRock & GTN), Jack Lee (MUFG Investor Services & GTN)
Bottom Row L-R:
L-R: Marcos Zubrzycki (PwC), Alfie Connolly (IQ-EQ and GTN), Hilary McNamara (Education for Sustainability), Rita Dolan (Bus Éireann);
L-R: Maria O'Connell (Independent Director), Eamon Ryan;
L-R: Eamon Ryan, Amol Agrawal (WTW).
Dear Readers,
If there are particular skills, services, ideas or other supports that you or your company can offer to the Green Team Network in pursuit of its plans, we would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in volunteering, we have four core workstreams: 1. Events & Engagement 2. Marketing & Communications 3. Knowledge, Education & Content 4. The Green Pledge. Please get in touch at info@greenteamnetwork.ie or reach out to any GTN contacts you know already.
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