10 Downing Street’s Andrew Griffith MP to address new IoD Green Recovery Forum

The UK’s Net Zero Business Champion is to join the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland (IoD NI) to launch a new platform that will support local businesses to harness the opportunities presented by the green economy.

The Green Recovery Forum, in association with NIE Networks, will hear from Andrew Griffith MP, during a live webinar on Thursday, May 13.

The event marks the beginning of the IoD and NIE Networks Green Recovery Forum series that will enable Northern Ireland business leaders to meet and discuss environmental challenges and opportunities in a bid to hasten the economy’s shift towards a clean growth model.

The webinar, running from 12.30-2pm, will also be addressed by Sam McCloskey, Director of Sustainability and Climate Resilience at Tetra Tech Europe and Professor Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Officer of Artemis Technologies which is leading the Belfast Maritime Consortium to develop a new class of zero-emission maritime vessels in the city.

Highlighting the need for the Northern Ireland economy to build back better, IoD NI Chairman Gordon Milligan urged local business leaders to ‘embrace the opportunities offered by new clean technologies’.

He explained: “As the economy prepares its recovery from Covid-19 and the numerous associated lockdowns, business communities across the globe are faced with challenges like never before.

“In order to build back better we must embrace the opportunities offered by new clean technologies in order to protect the future health of our planet before it reaches a point of no return.

“The UK government is committed to reaching the target of net zero by 2050, and thus extensive changes will be made.

“Despite the challenges this may initially bring, there is a huge opportunity to innovate and revolutionise our industries.

“Many businesses across Northern Ireland have already been doing this and we should take inspiration from their dynamic thinking and level of adaptability helping position this region as the centre of global change.”

Andrew Griffith works closely with 10 Downing Street, the COP26 President Designate and the Business Secretary.

His role is to support UK businesses of all sizes to make credible plans to achieve net zero by 2050 or earlier and to showcase the UK’s place as a global leader in tackling climate change in the run up to the UN Climate Summit being held in Glasgow this November.

Urging businesses to sign up to the form, NIE Networks Managing Director Paul Stapleton outlined that action was needed to help the community now and future generations.

He added: “Sustainability and environmental protection are central to what we do at NIE Networks and so, we are pleased to be supporting the Green Recovery Forum.

“We believe that the decisions we make today will either lay the foundation for clean growth or lock in polluting emissions for decades and so, action is needed now not just for ourselves but for the generations to come after us.

“This forum highlights the shared value of opportunity in that ‘doing good’ and ‘doing well’ go hand in hand.

“The possibility for businesses in Northern Ireland and across the world to reap the benefits of the green economy are immense and should be acted upon now.”

The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a non-party political organisation representing the views of around 30,000 individual business leaders in the UK with over 950 members in Northern Ireland.

Members are drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors.

For further information about the event, or to book a space, visit www.iod.com/events or contact 02890683224 or [email protected].

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