Dr. Emma Fitzgerald
Guest Speaker
Dr. FitzGerald is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Seplat Energy Plc where she chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of Finance & Energy Transition Committees. She is a seasoned executive in Energy & Water, with hands-on experience in transformation through her many years of working at Shell, ranging from building its lubricants business in China to running its Global Retail network.
From 2007-2010, she was accountable for Shell’s Downstream strategy and played a key role in reshaping Shell’s renewables strategy including the creation of Raizen, a game changing biofuels JV with Cosan. From 2013 to 2018 she ran gas distribution and water & waste networks for National Grid and Severn Trent in the UK where she successfully positioned them as sustainability thought leaders in their Industries. Most recently Dr. FitzGerald served as CEO of Puma Energy International, a global energy company owned by Trafigura and Sonangol, which is focused on high potential developing markets in Africa, Asia and Central America. In 2020 she set up Puma’s Future Energies division to play a critical role in helping customers and communities find the right energy solutions to support the energy transition.
Over the last 10 years she has served on various Boards in executive and non-executive capacities and currently sits on the board of UPM Kymmene, an international paper & biomaterials business focused on innovating for a future beyond fossil fuels. She also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Newmont Corporation, an industry leader in responsible Mining of gold and copper, and Graphene Manufacturing Group a Canadian listed business developing the next generation of batteries to replace Li + using Aluminium.
She is also a mentor for the creative destruction lab helping to scale promising businesses contributing to energy transition and an Expert Advisor at the World Economic Forum, where she supports the acceleration of the clean energy transition in emerging markets.