In this week’s Sustainability/ESG Bulletin, read about sustainability in Accountancy Ireland, the upcoming Government Supply Expo which will cover sustainable public procurement, and sustainability in NTMA’s institutional investor presentation. Also covered are the changes to sustainability reporting and the new ISO Standard on biodiversity for organisations, as well as the usual articles, resources and upcoming events.

Chartered Accountants Ireland

These articles on sustainability were published in the October/November issue of Accountancy Ireland

“It takes a lot of people working together to bring about real change”

Chartered Star 2025 winner Sophie Sweeney talks to Susan Rossney, Sustainability Advocacy Manager with Chartered Accountants Ireland, about the future of sustainability in the profession and its impact on wider society

Beating the bills while protecting the planet

Pinergy’s Daire Keating explains how all businesses can now combine affordability and sustainability when assessing their energy needs

Female representation in financial services on the rise

As a proud signatory of the Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter, Chartered Accountants Ireland has called on the Government to take action to improve access to affordable childcare.  The latest annual report from Ireland’s Women in Finance Charter shows a marked rise in women in senior roles in financial services—but barriers to equal representation remain.

Chartered Accountants Ireland joins CAFA

Chartered Accountants Ireland has joined Climate Action for Associations (CAFA), a network dedicated to net zero and sustainability for the membership sector. “Joining the CAFA Collective demonstrates Chartered Accountants Ireland’s commitment to drive stronger climate leadership,” Susan Rossney, the Institute’s Sustainability Advocacy Manager, said. “It empowers us to communicate our climate action intention internally and externally with key stakeholders. It is also aligned with the Institute’s Strategy 27, which is guided by values of accountability, excellence and openness, and shaping the future of business with integrity, and underpinned by a powerful principle: Trusted Business Leadership.”

IRELAND

Green public procurement in Government Supply Expo 2025

Green public procurement is one of the topics that will feature in the Government Supply Expo 2025, an all-island procurement event taking place in the Aviva Stadium on 11 November. The event is being organised by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and InterTradeIreland. Minister of State for Public Procurement, Digitalisation and eGovernment Emer Higgins has encouraged Irish businesses, particularly SMEs, micro and social enterprises to network, to attend the largest procurement event of the year, build collaborations and scope out upcoming procurement opportunities. Along with green and sustainable public procurement, topics to learn about include the tendering process, innovation, tendering tips and the supports and resources available to suppliers.

Sustainability in NTMA’s institutional investor presentation

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has published the latest version of its presentation for institutional investors, with information on Ireland’s energy mix, highlights on Irish Sovereign Green Bond Impact Report, policy on just transition and biodiversity. You can view the full presentation here.

EUROPE

Changes to sustainability reporting

The Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has approved its position on a series of changes to sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements for companies. These changes are to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and are part of the Omnibus I Simplification Package which is aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on businesses. Among the changes are that the CSRD would apply only to companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450 million in annual turnover, and the CSDDD will apply only to companies with 5,000+ employees and €1.5 billion in turnover.  There will be no EU-wide civil liability framework, and while climate transition plans remain mandatory, companies will no longer be required to outline specific implementing actions. Instead, they must make reasonable efforts to align their business models with EU climate legislation and the goals of the Paris Agreement. The next steps are for Parliament to approve the committee mandate at the next plenary session, after which MEPs and EU governments will start negotiations on the final text of the legislation on 24 October.

WORLD

New ISO Standard on biodiversity for organisations

The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has launched the world’s first International Standard dedicated to helping organizations take action on biodiversity.  ISO 17298: Biodiversity for organizations – Guidelines and Requirements is a new standard providing, for the first time, a practical, scalable framework to help organizations assess their biodiversity impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities. Commenting, ISO Head of Sustainability and Partnerships, Noelia Garcia Nebra, said “Many organizations see the urgency of biodiversity action, but navigating the path can be complex. Until now, there has been no globally agreed standard for organizations to integrate biodiversity into their strategies and operations… The standard embeds biodiversity into core governance and risk management practices - not just sustainability reporting - ensuring alignment with global expectations and organizational operations.” The new standard is designed to be interoperable with other widely used initiatives such as ISO 14001, ISO 26000, TNFD, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and contributes directly to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly Target 15 on corporate action.    

Resources

The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) has released Scaling Finance for Nature: A Primer on What Financial Institutions Are Doing Today, showing  how nature recovery finance or ‘greening finance’ to avoid and minimise harm to nature, as well as restoring nature to no net loss, can happen today and at scale with existing private commercial capital, through the everyday actions of financiers. The primer identifies one prerequisite step and four levers of change that financial institutions can use to achieve this – illustrated with concrete, real-life examples of them already in use.  The primary audience for this primer is practitioners in financial institutions, with concrete examples from across the sector (banks, investors, insurers).

Accountancy Europe has published its October Sustainability update with the following highlights:

• European Commission de-prioritises certain delegated acts
• European Commission delivers on ITS and RTS under Green Bond Regulation
• Council endorses agreement on EU carbon leakage mechanism
• Ministers discuss 2040 climate target
• ESMA’s letter on EFRAG’s revised ESRS

Articles

Events

Sustainability Centre

You can find information, guidance and supports to understand sustainability and meet the challenges it presents in our online Sustainability Centre.