Irene Heemskerk joined the European Central Bank in June 2021 to head the Climate Change Centre. She is responsible for shaping and steering the ECB’s climate agenda internally and externally. Irene also represents the ECB in the Central Banks and Supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and is as an observer to the EFRAG Sustainability Board.

In the first half of 2021, she was involved as a Sustainability Fellow in the work of the IFRS Foundation on setting up a Sustainability Standards Board. Prior, from 2005 until 2020, Irene held various positions at De Nederlandsche Bank. She was Advisor to the Chair of the NGFS, senior policy advisor climate risks, Secretary to the Board for Supervision and Legal Counsel.
She holds a master’s degree in international and European law from Leiden University.