The Green Transition In The Corporate Sector Hope, Challenges, And What It Takes To Succeed - Practical Aspects -

BLP / SGI-OSF Seminars in Business & Society 2023-2024

Delia Cristea - Partner and General Counsel, Power Sustainable

The seminar will explore the transformation of the corporate sector under the pressure of the “ESG revolution”, with a special focus on the “E” (environmental factors). We will discuss the key players in Canada’s Net-Zero mission (corporates, financial system, civil society, policymakers, universities), their progress to date and road ahead, with particular focus on policymaking (legislative progress to date, gaps in the comparative context of the EU model). Finally, we will aim to cover the key challenges on delivering on sustainable growth: lack of integration of Indigenous knowledge and perspective, polarization, corporate inertia, Canadian regional divide and impact on vulnerable populations. The seminar will be presented from a practitioner’s point of view and will take the form of engaged discussion on all the key areas of focus.

BIO: Delia Cristea is a Partner and General Counsel at Power Sustainable, an investment firm in the sustainability space, focused on climate-related investments. She oversees the firm’s legal, compliance and culture functions and she is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She is also responsible for the firm’s ecosystem building activities in the sustainable finance space. Prior to Power Sustainable, Delia worked as counsel for Power Corporation of Canada, where she most recently served as Assistant General Counsel. Prior to that, she was Associate at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Delia graduated with a gold medal from McGill Faculty of Law and holds a license in law and a Masters in European law from Sorbonne University in Paris. She also chairs the board and the governance committee of Lawyers without Borders Canada. She is passionate about supporting the growth of the sustainability ecosystem both in Canada and abroad. As such acts as board member or advisor to a number of organizations in this space, including Cycle Momentum, the McGill Sustainable Growth Initiative and the Green Finance Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.