
Ireland’s ‘Sustainable Nation Ireland’ initiative has established the Sustainable & Responsible Investment Forum Ireland (SIF Ireland), with the new body already becoming a member of the European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif), the Brussels-based membership organisation.
The new SIF is chaired by Terence O’Rourke, former Managing Partner of KPMG Ireland.
O’Rourke, who retired from the accounting firm in 2013, is Chairman of Enterprise Ireland, the government body which promotes Irish companies globally. He’s also a director of the Irish Times and an advisor to Women’s Executive Network.
“Eurosif is proud to welcome Sustainable Nation Ireland within its family of SRI investors,” said Eurosif’s Executive Director Flavia Micilotta. “We look forward to working together to promote responsible investments with other key players in Ireland.”
Stephen Nolan, CEO of Sustainable Nation, added: “Ireland’s Sustainable Nation offers a platform for those working right across the sustainability sector and capital markets to come together, understand each other – and ultimately do business together at a local and global level.
“Developing our own SIF is a next step in recognizing the growing influence of the sustainable and responsible investment space, both at home and in Europe.”The Sustainable Nation project, where former European Parliament President Pat Cox (see RI interview) has an ambassadorial role, is part of the Irish government’s IFS 2020 strategy; it aims to have €250bn in funds domiciled, managed or deployed into low-carbon enterprises in the country, all underpinned by responsible and sustainable investment principles, by 2021.
“Developing our own SIF is a next step in recognizing the growing influence of responsible investment”
It was created through a 2015 merger of Ireland’s Green International Financial Services Centre (Green IFSC) and The Green Way, an organization leading the cleantech cluster in Dublin.
Nolan, the former Executive Director Green IFSC, is a former advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s ICT Task Force. He is a member of the international Advisory Group of the Climate Bonds Initiative and the Advisory Group for the UN Environment Programme Global Environment Monitoring System for Water Capacity Development Centre.
Sustainable Nation is partnering with Response Global Media (publishers of Responsible Investor and ESG Magazine) to host the Global Sustainable Capital Forum 2017 in Dublin on March 15-17 next year.