The project will facilitate the establishment of a research partnership between SETU and Queens University Belfast to devise sustainable finance solutions to tackle biodiversity loss
Prof Sheila O’Donohoe, a researcher at the School of Business, South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford, has received funding for research into sustainable finance solutions to address biodiversity loss from the Irish Research Council. This funding is one of eight new research projects announced by Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, on 1 Dec under the Shared Island strand of the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations programme.
Urgent issue
The projects bring researchers North and South together to examine political, economic, civic, and social cooperation and connection on the island of Ireland and are funded by the Shared Island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach.
The aim of this research project is to devise sustainable finance solutions to tackle biodiversity loss. Biodiversity loss is one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, and also features as a major risk by the World Economic Forum in its 2022 Global Risks Report. In addition, recent work by Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss reiterates the urgency of this issue.
All-island collaboration
The funding received will facilitate the establishment of a research partnership between the two universities, SETU and Queens University Belfast. Led by Prof Sheila O Donohoe of SETU and Dr Lisa Sheenan of Queens, this research involves an all-island collaboration between various stakeholders in identifying priorities to halt or reverse biodiversity loss and devising policies from sustainable finance to address these. This project addresses an important gap in the policy, academic and practitioner domains, and fits with the Irish government’s plan for Ireland to be a leading sustainable finance centre by 2025.
Important juncture
Prof O'Donohoe, an established researcher, leads the AIB Centre for Finance and Business Research in the School of Business, which has sustainable finance as one of its research themes. She is currently co-supervising two PhD students on sustainable finance. Speaking of her joy at securing the award, she said, “I am thrilled to receive this funding at an important juncture for sustainable finance, which is also timely in addressing this important topic of biodiversity loss, and I very much look forward to working with Lisa on this research.”
Dr Sheenan is Assistant Finance Professor at Queen’s University. Previously she worked as an economist with the Central Bank of Ireland and as risk analyst with the SBCI. She has published extensively and has also contributed to the sub-working group on Policy Design for the Green Finance Effectiveness Framework produced by the Green Finance Platform, which is co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The project is due to commence mid-December and continue for nine months. For further information please contact [email protected]