Program speakers

Fiachra Kearney 

Executive Director – Forever Wild

Fiachra’s career has focused on tackling some of the planet’s most pressing environmental and societal challenges. He has extensive experience in Africa, Australia, and S.E. Asia working with diverse landscapes and cultures. He conceived and leads the Forever Wild Initiative, linking natural and social capital with the economic system in a truly sustainable way. The Forever Wild Initiative is a Group of companies that includes a charity at its core, profit-for-purpose entities working alongside wholly-owned Indigenous companies, bespoke investment structures for private capital to support climate, biodiversity and social outcomes, and a company designed to connect natural and social impact credits with business activity and consumers.

Across its system, the Forever Wild initiative links UN Sustainable Development Goals and Global Biodiversity Targets to meaningful, on-ground actions. In 2022 the Initiative co-designed an Australian-first finance model to scale up nature-based solutions.

Fiachra is a former research scientist with the CSIRO in the Rangelands & Savannahs Research team, and has extensive experience in private business. He also sits on the Board of the Southern Rangelands Pastoral Alliance, a sustainable agricultural group representing nearly 7% of Australia’s landmass. Fiachra is an officer in the Qld Rural Fire Service, on the frontline of the impacts of our changing climate.