Craig Stewart (Insurance Bureau of Canada), Martha Hall Findlay (Suncor Energy Inc.), Ryan Riordan (Queen's University) and Carlyle Coutinho (Enwave), moderated by Shawn McCarthy (Sussex Strategy Group)
Event Image Details - featured (featured && panelist=0||1)
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
12:00 PM
 - 1:00 PM

Financing Canada’s Climate-Smart Economy

Craig Stewart (Insurance Bureau of Canada), Martha Hall Findlay (Suncor Energy Inc.), Ryan Riordan (Queen's University) and Carlyle Coutinho (Enwave), moderated by Shawn McCarthy (Sussex Strategy Group)
Share this event
What Gets Financed, Gets Built

“What gets financed, gets built” is central to understanding how the financial sector can advance the low-carbon transition.

Join Canadian Club Toronto, in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) on Wednesday, September 30th from 12-1 p.m. ET for a discussion on financing Canada’s low carbon transition. ISF will present key findings from its landmark report on the capital blueprint for a low-carbon economy – the first research of its kind in Canada. The event will include diverse perspectives from finance, insurance, academia and the oil & gas industry.

The expert panel will be moderated by Shawn McCarthy, former global energy reporter for The Globe & Mail, and will feature:
• Martha Hall Findlay – Chief Sustainability Officer, Suncor Energy Inc.
• Ryan Riordan – Director of Research, Institute for Sustainable Finance, Associate Professor & Distinguished Professor of Finance, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
• Craig Stewart – Vice President, Federal Affairs, Insurance Bureau of Canada
Carlyle Coutinho, President, Enwave North America

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Queen’s University, this event is free of charge to all attendees. Please click the ‘Join the LIVE webcast’ to register. 

Craig Stewart
Vice President, Federal Affairs, Insurance Bureau of Canada

Craig Stewart leads national work on disaster resilience and climate change at the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) – the industry association representing the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada. IBC’s members employ over 122,000 Canadians and paid out $9.8 billion in property claims in 2016, primarily due to severe weather and wildfire.

Previous to his work with IBC, Craig directed the Ottawa Bureau and Arctic program for WWF Canada, handled pandemic liaison, trade liaison and humanitarian donations for GlaxoSmithKline (Canada) Ltd., directed a $60 million federal/provincial/territorial program at Natural Resources Canada to elevate the Canadian geospatial industry and founded the Miistakis Institute at the University of Calgary.

Craig holds a master of science from the University of Calgary, and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Toronto. He is the author of two atlases on the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, British Columbia and Montana.

Martha Hall Findlay
Chief Sustainability Officer, Suncor Energy Inc.

As Chief Sustainability Officer, Martha plays a key role in stewarding Suncor’s many external relationships and strategic collaborations in support of the company’s ongoing economic, environmental and social performance leadership. Martha oversees Suncor’s sustainability strategy, public policy and government relations efforts, and internal and external communications. She is responsible for the continued deepening of the company’s Indigenous, stakeholder, and community relations, as well as being accountable for Suncor’s social innovation agenda, including through her involvement on the Board of the Suncor Energy Foundation.

Prior to joining Suncor, Martha was the President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, one of Canada’s most important public policy think tanks, where her focus was strong public policy recommendations for the economic and social prosperity of western Canada, and by extension Canada as a whole. She has written dozens of essays, articles and op eds for national publications in both official languages and has frequently appeared as a thought leader in national print and broadcast media.

She has over 30 years of experience as a corporate lawyer, international trade expert, senior executive and successful entrepreneur, supporting major multinationals as well as start-ups – primarily in wireless telecommunications and mobile payments, in Canada and in Europe.

As a twice-elected Member of Parliament, she served in the Official Opposition shadow cabinet for International Trade; Finance; Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; and Public Works and Government Services, and she served on the House of Commons Standing Committees for all of those portfolios. She is currently a member of the Minister of International Trade’s Trade Expert Advisory Council.

Martha’s community engagement has included serving as an advisory council member, board director and executive for a variety of policy, environmental, community and cultural organizations including the Energy Futures Lab, Positive Energy (University of Ottawa), Protein Industries Canada, the Glenbow Museum, the Georgian Bay Association and CKUA Radio Network.

She was Canadian Championships silver medalist in alpine skiing (1976), coached several young skiers who went on to compete in the Olympics, and served six years of the Board of Alpine Canada, her last two as Chair.

Martha has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Toronto and an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School. She also holds the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation.

Ryan Riordan
Associate Professor & Distinguished Professor of Finance, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University

Ryan Riordan is the Associate Professor & Distinguished Professor of Finance at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. He is the Director of Research of the newly-established Institute for Sustainable Finance based at Smith. Prior to joining Smith, Ryan was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and an Assistant Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. His work has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Markets among many others.

Carlyle Coutinho
President, Enwave North America

Carlyle Coutinho is the President, Enwave North America and is responsible for the operations and growth of the existing platform. Carlyle works with Enwave’s leadership team to drive the business forward with a keen focus on creative business models, innovation, and sustainability. Carlyle began his career with Enwave as Chief Financial Officer and has held a variety of executive roles within the organization, most recently as COO of the Canadian operations.

Prior to joining Enwave in 2013, Carlyle held progressively senior investment and operational positions in private equity and debt investment in Canada and the United States. Carlyle began his career in public accounting with KPMG and Deloitte.

Carlyle earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder, and was recognized in 2020 as one of Canada’s top 16 outstanding clean capitalism leaders by the Clean50 organization.


Shawn McCarthy
Senior Counsel, Sussex Strategy Group

Shawn McCarthy is Senior Counsel at Sussex Strategy Group, bringing extensive political, energy and environment, and journalistic experience to our communications team in support of our clients, with a particular focus on those in the energy and environment sectors. Shawn is retired from The Globe and Mail and was a national business correspondent covering global energy.

Shawn’s career at The Globe and Mail also included the role of Parliamentary Bureau Chief, serving as chief political writer, and New York City correspondent, covering U.S. corporate stories and international political stories at the United Nations. Prior to his significant tenure at The Globe, Shawn also worked at The Toronto Star, Canadian Press, and the Alberta Report magazine.

In addition to his role with Sussex, Shawn continues to write for various publications and serves as the president of the Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, a volunteer advocacy group based in Ottawa.