IIEA Talks

In her address, Anne Bajart discusses the European Commission’s activities and initiatives to promote digital skills. She focuses the Commission’s plans to promote skills for key areas such as AI (artificial intelligence), data, cybersecurity, semi-conductors and AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) technologies. Ms Bajart also discusses the role of the European Jobs and Skills Coalition, and the European Digital Jobs and Skills Platform, in promoting skills and the importance of grassroots initiatives such as EU Code Week. About the Speaker: Anne Bajart is Deputy Head of Unit for Interactive Technologies, Digital for Culture and Education at DG CONNECT. She previously was Head of Sector for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in DG CONNECT. She has a PhD in Electrical engineering and has worked as a researcher, lecturer and project manager.

Lord Paul Bew, Member of the House of Lords; Ben Lowry, Editor-in-chief of the Belfast Newsletter, in conversation with Dan O’Brien, IIEA Chief Economist.

Military neutrality has long held an important place in the Irish national psyche with polls consistently showing strong support for the concept. This support has remained solid even in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, an invasion which caused some other neutral EU countries to seriously evaluate their security stances. In his remarks, Conor Gallagher shares his view that today, the Irish version of neutrality seems uniquely narrow and appears, in the eyes of the Government at least, to comprise of simply staying out of NATO or an EU common defence pact. However, Mr Gallagher believes that many Irish people view neutrality as encompassing something complex and ambitious, but there is little agreement on what that is. About the Speaker: Conor Gallagher is the Crime and Security Correspondent for The Irish Times where he reports on issues concerning defence and state security, including developments in the Defence Forces and the rise of hybrid threats. He joined the newspaper in 2017. He recently published Is Ireland Neutral?, a book examining the evolving definitions of Irish neutrality in the decades since independence and its future in an increasingly uncertain world. He is a graduate of the DCU journalism program and has a Master’s Degree in Political Communications.

Around the world, governments, communities and individuals are struggling to come to terms with one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. In the second installment of the 2023 REthink Energy lecture series, which is co-organised by the IIEA and ESB, renowned environmentalist and prolific author, Bill McKibben, shares his insights into how the negative impacts of anthropocentric climate change can be mitigated. In particular, he speaks about the opportunities and obstacles presented by what he refers to as the “next great human adventure”: ending large-scale combustion on our planet. About the Speaker: Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament. He's also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature, published in 1989, and his latest book is The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.

For centuries, indigenous peoples around the world have been the guardians of the world’s bio and cultural diversity with their wisdom and unique knowledge. Today, they care for more than 20% of the planet’s land and 80% of its biodiversity. In her address to the IIEA, United Nations SDG Advocate and Environment and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Activist, Hindou Ibrahim, will discuss the indispensable role that indigenous communities play in protecting the environment and fostering a diverse range of ecosystems. She addresses the enormous challenges posed by climate change and by drawing on her experience as an SDG Advocate and her extensive knowledge of indigenous peoples’ practices she shares her valuable insights into how a just transition can be achieved; one in which everyone’s voice matters and to ensure no one is left behind. About the Speaker: Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is a Chadian environmentalist and geographer, and an expert in Indigenous Peoples’ adaption to climate change. As an indigenous woman from the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad, Ms Ibrahim founded the Association of Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and has worked on a 2D and 3D participatory mapping initiative in Chad’s Sahel region. In 2019, Ms Ibrahim became one of the 17 people to be appointed as an advocate of Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations Secretary General. She is the Coordinator of the AFPAT and has served as the co-director of the pavilion of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Initiative and Pavilion at COP21, COP22, COP23 and COP27, and now co-chair of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change.

As a founding member of the United Nations, Canada’s commitment to multilateralism is the cornerstone of that country’s foreign policy. As the globe faces a confluence of multiple crises, UN member states, such as Canada and Ireland, have called for a recommitment to the UN Charter, and for necessary UN reforms to achieve a United Nations that is effective, efficient, relevant and accountable. As a founding member of the United Nations, Canada’s commitment to multilateralism is the cornerstone of that country’s foreign policy. As the globe faces a confluence of multiple crises, UN member states, such as Canada and Ireland, have called for a recommitment to the UN Charter, and for necessary UN reforms to achieve a United Nations that is effective, efficient, relevant and accountable. With a distinguished career at the UN and at the highest levels of Canadian politics, Ambassador Rae discusses how countries, like Canada and Ireland, can bring a strong voice on human rights, advancing peace and security and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals to the world stage through their engagement at the United Nations at this roundtable event. About the Speaker: Mr. Robert Rae is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York. He served as Premier of Ontario from 1990–1995, interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011–2013, and was appointed as Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar (2017) and Canada’s Special Envoy on Humanitarian and Refugee Issues (2020). From 1996 to 2008, he was a partner at Goodmans LLP and wrote government reports on the Air India bombing and higher education in Ontario. Mr. Rae also served as Chair of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Institute for Research in Public Policy, and the Forum of Federations. Mr. Rae taught law and public policy at the University of Toronto and in the VicOne programme at Victoria College, and was a partner and senior counsel to the law firm OKT LLP from 2014 to 2020, specialising in indigenous law and constitutional issues. Mr. Rae is a Privy Councillor, a Companion of the Order of Canada, and a member of the Order of Ontario.

In this podcast, IIEA Director of Research, Dr. Barry Colfer, interviews Marion Jammet, member of the IIEA’s Climate and Energy Working Group and Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Irish Green Building Council. They discuss her recent IIEA paper ‘The Co-Benefits of an Energy Efficiency in an Irish Context’ which provides an analysis of the wide range of direct and indirect co-benefits of energy efficiency upgrades in the residential and non-residential building sectors, it also examines the next steps that should be taken by policymakers to support quality energy efficiency upgrades at scale.

A united Ireland is among the most contentious issues in Irish and Northern Irish politics. At times during the past century, the idea united Ireland has seemed impossible or been dismissed as romantic but unrealistic. However, in recent years, the outcome of the Brexit referendum, changing demographics in Northern Ireland, and the electoral success of nationalism in Northern Ireland’s most recent elections have reinvigorated the debate around Irish unity, and whether, how, and when it should happen. In his most recent book, Making Sense of a United Ireland, Professor Brendan O’Leary, a global expert on the politics of divided places, explains how unification could happen, sets out potential models of a united Ireland, and analyses the economics and politics of Irish unity. In this keynote address to the IIEA, Professor O’Leary addresses questions of preparation and strategy in the light of public opinion North and South. About the Speaker: Brendan O'Leary is the Lauder Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Professor of Political Science at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is the author, co-author, and co-editor of thirty books and collections, and he has written extensively on the Northern Ireland conflict. Professor O’Leary also is a founding member of ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South) programme at the Royal Irish Academy. Professor O’Leary’s three-volume study, A Treatise on Northern Ireland, received the James S. Donnelly Sr. best book prize of the American Conference on Irish Studies in 2020, and he is the inaugural winner of the Juan Linz prize of the International Political Science Association for contributions to the study of multinational societies, federalism and powersharing. Professor O’Leary has also been a political and constitutional advisor to the United Nations, the European Union, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, the Governments of the UK and Ireland, and to the British.

Drawing on IFAD’s 45 years of hands-on experience in agriculture and rural development, IFAD President Alvaro Lario outlines how reshaping food systems around small-scale producers can limit global warming, regenerate ecosystems, and end poverty and hunger. While food production generates one-third of all greenhouse gases, drives biodiversity losses, and uses about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater and President Lario contends that sustainable food systems hold the potential to generate US$4.5 trillion in new business opportunities every year and to create more than 120 million rural jobs. He argues that decades of under-investment in food systems and glaring inequalities have left many farmers and other rural people cut off from economic opportunities. He reflects on the current global food crisis, which is worsening as more than 700 million people go to bed hungry every night. Ending poverty and hunger are fundamental to the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals and President Lario demonstrates that reshaping food systems could end poverty and hunger and limit the impacts of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable. About the Speaker: Alvaro Lario is President of the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD). A seasoned international development finance leader, he has more than 20 years of experience across private sector asset management, World Bank Group and the United Nations, including as Associate Vice-President of Financial Operations at IFAD. Under his stewardship, IFAD became the first United Nations Fund to enter the capital markets and obtain a credit rating, enabling the IFAD to expand resource mobilisation efforts to the private sector. President Lario received a PhD in Financial Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid after completing a Master of Research in Economics at the London Business School and a Master of Finance from Princeton University.

In this interview, IIEA Researcher, Leanne Digney, talks to the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, about the mandate of her office and the major challenges in this sphere today. This interview is part of the Global Europe UN podcast series which is sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Please note that due to the virtual nature of this interview, there may be some slight audio irregularities.