02/06/21

GUERNSEY: Rt. Hon. Claire O’Neill confirmed as keynote speaker for Sustainable Finance Week.

Press release from Guernsey Finance on Wednesday 2 June, 2021.

Guernsey Finance is delighted to announce that the Rt Hon. Claire O’ Neill has confirmed her attendance as a keynote speaker and moderator at this year’s Sustainable Finance Week.

The former Member of Parliament will deliver the opening speech on Tuesday 8 June, where she will set the scene, discussing the global picture in the year of COP26.

Green Finance Manager at Guernsey Finance, Stephanie Glover, said she was pleased to welcome a speaker of Claire’s calibre at the second Sustainable Finance Week event, which takes place in Guernsey 7-11 June.

“As a former UK Minister for Climate Change and Energy, who is widely credited with driving the acceleration and expansion of the Government’s decarbonisation and Clean Growth plans, Claire O’Neill will be a great addition to the lineup of internationally renowned experts and policy makers who are taking part this year,” she said.

“As the author and implementor of the UK’s Clean Growth and Green Finance Strategies and a former COP26 President delegate, she is an expert in the field of sustainability and we are very much looking forward to welcoming her, albeit virtually, to Guernsey.”

Stephanie Glover, Green Finance Manager at Guernsey Finance

Claire O’Neill said: “Sir Roger Gifford was a gifted and passionate champion of green finance. His legacy will live on in the pioneering work the UK is doing in the important area of climate-linked financial services.

“As the UK prepares to host the COP26 international climate summit in Glasgow later this year, there is a consensus emerging that far more effort is needed―and fast.

“That is why Guernsey Green Finance’s Sustainable Finance Week is a welcome stop on the road to COP. It will explore key themes and provide actionable insights on how to prepare for a low-carbon future. I am very much looking forward to being involved in the debate.”

Guernsey Finance chairman, Deputy Lyndon Trott, said: “We are enormously grateful to have Claire O’Neill as our keynote speaker, and for agreeing to step in at short notice following our friend and colleague Sir Roger Gifford’s illness and very sad and unexpected passing on 25th May.

“As Chairman of the Green Finance Institute, Sir Roger was a powerful voice in the green finance community, where he advanced the cause of green finance in the UK. We were honoured to have him as our keynote speaker at the 10th Guernsey Funds Forum in 2019 and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time.”

Sustainable Finance Week 2021 is presented in association with the UN Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) Network.

A fixture in the international private wealth and sustainable finance space, the Guernsey Finance event will be bringing together global policy makers, opinion formers and professionals from across private wealth and sustainable finance to discuss private capital financing sustainability against the backdrop of CoP 26 later in 2021.

This hybrid event will mix a physical conference in Guernsey with live broadcasts and panels from the financial and private wealth centres of London, New York, Zurich and Geneva. 2020’s event brought together over a thousand participants from 50 countries, with speakers from numerous leading global sustainable finance organisations including the United Nations; TheCityUK; the UK’s Green Finance Institute; the BVCA; the Hong Kong Green Finance Association; and the Swiss Sustainable Finance Institute.