Sustainable Development Manager, Belfast City Council
Clare McKeown has been at the forefront of climate policy implementation for almost 2 decades at both local and national level. As Senior Policy Advisor with the UK SD Commission in NI and subsequently Head of the Whitehall Team she worked with Ministers and leading civil servants in both London and Belfast integrating environmental sustainability into government policy and processes. She also championed the adoption of environmental sustainability into the NI construction, energy, engineering, transport and industries and associated professional bodies. As result, she fostered a lasting strategic alliance among key business organisations to foster the growth of the low carbon economy.
She now works within the Climate Team in Chief Executives Department of Belfast City Council.
Clare is leading on the energy transition in the city, which involves the establishment of new governance and political structures to manage the transition. These include the establishment of the Belfast Low Carbon Commission, Belfast Resilience and Sustainability Board and All Party Working Group on the Climate Crisis.
Through securing Councils involvement in the global Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cites project and several Innovate UK funded projects she has led the low carbon transition on renewable energy installation, smart EV charging and is now pioneering a climate finance initiative.
Clare is on the Environment Leadership Board of Business in the Community, is a City Ambassador and an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Queens University Belfast.