Changing the Climate in the Boardroom

‘How might we change the climate in the Boardroom?’

This was the question asked of a willing group of chartered directors from IoD Ireland and IoD Northern Ireland and students from NCAD and IADT as part of the Creative Boardroom: Collaborate4Climate programme. Using design thinking tools during a series of facilitated workshops, five barriers to changing the climate in the boardroom were identified. The barriers relating to knowledge, visibility, value, urgency and impact led to a series of recommendations for chartered directors interested in addressing climate challenges. These recommendations form part of an exhibition currently touring on the Island of Ireland. The exhibition highlights Ireland’s progress towards climate targets and provides insight into how we can collectively address challenges.

Recommendation 1: Build a shared understanding

Winning hearts and minds begins with developing a collective understanding amongst board members of the urgency and scale of the climate crisis. Providing access to accessible and credible information is essential. The Creative Boardroom touring exhibition, which presents key information from reports published by the EPA, SEAI and the Department of Climate Energy and the Environment, helps organisations understand the scale of the climate challenge and how small positive actions can make a difference.

Recommendation 2: Show what change looks like

Building on a shared understanding of the climate crisis, boards can benefit from seeing what change looks like in a practical sense. This means providing achievable, tangible examples of interventions or innovations that are relevant to them, their sector and their business. The recently developed ‘Courageous Climate Conversations’ guide provides a design-led methodology to help boards and organisations navigate change and adapt with agility in an evolving climate landscape. The guide was launched at the Shared Island Conference on 13th November and is widely available in print and online.

Recommendation 3: Make our journey public

The Creative Boardroom exhibition is available to businesses and organisations across Ireland. It has been showcased in Northern Ireland at the new Translink Grand Central Station, Belfast and Invest NI offices, and will move to Queen's University in early 2026. It was featured as part of IoD Ireland’s Leading in Governance Conference in October and has travelled to the Department of Culture, Communication and Sport (DCCS) on Leeson Lane and Killarney, CBRE Offices, Irish Rail Connolly Station, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, Turner & Townsend Offices, and was featured at the recent Shared Island Conference in Croke Park. It will be hosted at the ESB offices on Fitzwilliam Square, to close out 2025.

Recommendation 4: Give climate a permanent role at the table

To help boards and organisations to embed climate priorities, a series of Collaborate4Climate Design Thinking Workshops was offered to Creative Boardroom exhibition hosts and partners. These workshops, led by Creative Futures Academy and Forvis Mazars, provided insights into how a design process can foster collective problem-solving and enhance opportunities for leadership and impact. It offered Chartered Director members from IoD Ireland and IoD Northern Ireland a unique opportunity to explore how these tools can be used to help boards “raise the temperature in the boardroom” to address climate challenges meaningfully. Read more about this session.

Recommendation 5: Incentivise and celebrate progress

Recognising that meaningful change requires board-level leadership, Creative Boardroom: Collaborate 4 Climate was proud to launch the inaugural Creative Boardroom ‘Warming up the Boardroom’ SEAI Award. An award to celebrate excellence in governance and strategy, rewarding directors and organisations that embed urgency and accountability into their sustainability agenda. It was open exclusively to Creative Boardroom participants. Winners were announced at the SEAI Awards Ceremony on 27th November. We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to Maura Moore CDir and Roger Henderson CDir on their success.

Creative Boardroom: Collaborate4Climate was funded through Creative Ireland and the Shared Island programme and led by Creative Futures Academy in partnership with IoD Ireland, IoD Northern Ireland and Forvis Mazars.

Read about the programme in its entirety on the Creative Futures Academy Website. 

This article is the view of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect IoD Ireland’s policy or position.

About the Author

Laura Magahy is Head of Public Sector Consulting at Forvis Mazars in Ireland, where she leads programmes that help public and not‑for‑profit organisations deliver transformative change. With over two decades at CEO and board level, she specialises in organisational culture audits, governance reviews, and strategic change initiatives - from client representative roles to large‑scale stakeholder engagement - across health and wellbeing, the circular economy, urban renewal, and the creative industries. She is also Executive Chair of CreativeBoardroom: Collaborate4Climate.

Previously, Laura served as Executive Director of Sláintecare at Ireland’s Department of Health, guiding cross‑government health reform; founded and managed M‑CO, a multidisciplinary strategic design and project delivery consultancy; and was Managing Director of Temple Bar Properties Ltd, overseeing Dublin’s flagship urban regeneration. She also founded and directed Arran Street East, a craft and design studio. Laura is a Fellow and Past President of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, a Past President of the International Women’s Forum, an Honorary Architect of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, and a Chartered Director and IPMA Level A Certified Projects Director.