​Norman Crowley
Global Entrepreneur and Founder & Chairman of CoolPlanet


Norman Crowley founded and sold 3 businesses for over three-quarters of a billion dollars before the age of 40. These included the Inspired Gaming Group, (the world’s largest server-based gaming company), which was sold for $500 million; and Europe’s largest Wi-Fi hotspot provider, The Cloud, which was bought by BSkyB for $77 million. Feeling his next venture should make a real difference in addressing the global climate change issue, Norman founded CoolPlanet which helps firms reduce consumption, optimise systems, lower emissions and achieve net zero. Aiming to cool the planet as fast as possible, the business has already saved customers over $400 million in energy, and 2,597,963 tonnes of CO2. In 2021, Norman founded AVA, which brings together a team of F1-grade engineers to create cars that not only have the lowest carbon footprint on the road, but that are built in a way that has the least impact on the planet. Norman believes we are on the cusp of the deepest, fastest transformation in human history. He will share how we can cool the planet as fast as possible as well as the leadership lessons he has learned within a remarkable entrepreneurial journey.

​Eric Lonergan
Internationally Renowned Thinker and Author

​Eric Lonergan is described by The Irish Times as “probably the finest, and certainly the most thoughtful, Irish economist of his generation”. An internationally-renowned thinker, Eric is best known as a policy economist, macro hedge fund manager, and writer. His most recent book is entitled Supercharge Me: Net Zero Faster and he is also the author of the international bestseller, ‘Angrynomics’, and ‘Money’ (2nd ed) published by Routledge. He has written for Foreign Affairs, The Financial Times, and The Economist. Invited to speak around the globe, Eric also advises governments and policymakers.

Chris Martin
Head of Sustainability at Danske Bank

Chris is the award-winning Head of Sustainability at Danske Bank. His primary focus is the development and delivery of a comprehensive sustainability strategy and Net Zero outcome for Danske Bank’s UK operations. This includes all aspects of sustainability and climate risk, development of customer focused solutions and services, successful alignment with regulatory requirements, delivery of sustainability reporting including TCFD and development of transition finance. Chris will offer a business perspective on the new NI Climate Change Act – something that all organisations should be paying attention to.

Judith Owens
Chief Executive of Titanic Belfast 

Judith was named Chief Executive of Titanic Belfast in December 2017 and under her leadership the organisation has gone from strength to strength, welcoming over 6.5 million visitors from 145 countries, winning ‘World’s Leading Tourist Attraction’ at the World Travel Awards and seeing the attraction contribute an additional £430 million direct visitor spend back into the NI economy to date. She serves on the boards of Visit Belfast, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA UK) and chairs the NI Tourism Alliance (NITA) and in January of this year she received an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours for services to Tourism. Judith will share how one of the world’s leading attractions is taking meaningful action on sustainability, resulting in being the first organisation on the island of Ireland to receive Silver Awards for the Green Tourism and Green Meetings accreditations.

Anna-Marie McAlinden
Head of Climate & Energy at Mills Selig

Anna-Marie McAlinden established the Climate & Energy Practice at Mills Selig. She is a leading figure in the legal market noted for her technical excellence coupled with a pragmatic approach. Her expertise within the energy law sector over the past ten years has been in renewable energy; including wind, hydro, geothermal and solar developments as well as anaerobic digestion plants. Anna-Marie regularly acts for landowners, funders, institutional lenders and developers in this sector.  Joining Anna-Marie is Glenn Watterson who leads Energy projects at Mills Selig from a corporate perspective and is well known for advising high profile corporate clients and private investors on both the acquisition and disposal of companies and assets in the renewable energy sector. Glenn is also an expert in GreenTech and adds technical knowledge and has a wealth of experience advising clients in the IT and software industries on “green projects”.

Ben Craig 
Acting Director, International Synergies

Ben Craig is Acting Director at International Synergies NI, which helps local organisations become part of the green industrial revolution by finding new ways forward on the road to Net Zero, including diverting waste away from landfill and into the circular economy. An entrepreneur and adventurer, Ben founded a coffee company, Root & Branch Organic Ltd. in 2011 and reached #4 in the world at kayak surfing! He will share how local leaders and organisations can cut costs and carbon by taking advantage of the innovation opportunities that come from industrial symbiosis.

Dr Andrew Woods 
CEO and Co-Founder of CATAGEN

​Dr Andrew Woods is CEO and Co-Founder of CATAGEN. Built on bright minds with a bold vision, CATAGEN has developed a range of net zero technologies focused on cleaning and decarbonising the air, as part of its mission to deliver greener and healthier environments. Air pollution remains the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, causing more than 30,000 deaths every year. CATAGEN provides physical and virtual emissions testing to global automotive OEMs and industry leading data for transport policy makers. This expertise is now leading to the development of new Net Zero Technologies including Green Hydrogen and E-Fuels. Andrew will share how an award-winning Belfast-based business is now transforming the global landscape when it comes to air quality and zero emissions technology.