Sustainability Bulletin, 2 April 2026

In this week’s bulletin read about the Institute’s shortlisting for an ESG award, the importance of strong capital markets for the green transition, warnings from the Climate Change Advisory Council, and CSO new data on enterprise sustainability. Updates from Northern Ireland include the publication of its latest Climate Change Adaptation Programme and the extension of the public consultation on Draft Nature Recovery Strategy. The UK’s new energy security measures are covered, along with the greenlighting of negotiations on UK participation in the EU’s internal energy market. This plus the usual articles, resources and upcoming events.

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IRELAND

Institute shortlisted for ESG award

Chartered Accountants Ireland has been shortlisted for the ESG Company Award (SMEs) in the Business & Finance Media Group ESG Awards 2026, in partnership with Grant Thornton Ireland. Congratulations to all our fellow nominees across over 15 categories and we look forward to the Awards on 16 April!

IRELAND

Strong capital markets needed for green transition

The Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, Gabriel Mahklouf, has described strong capital markets as necessary to fund innovation, infrastructure, and the digital and green transition. Speaking at the first Annual Savings and Investment Forum Governor Mahklouf went on to say that only a fraction of EU household wealth is currently held directly in capital markets instruments. The forum, which was convened this week by Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris TD, brought together stakeholders, including Chartered Accountants Ireland, from across the financial services sector, consumer representatives, and policymakers to support the continued evolution of Ireland’s savings and investment landscape. It aims to focus on advancing a framework for a Personal Investment Account in Ireland, and to support greater retail participation in capital markets, enhance long term financial resilience and provide individuals with improved opportunities to grow their savings.

Moving away from fossil fuels "key to reducing impact of future crises"

Moving away from fossil fuels is key to reducing the impact of the current crisis and future crises, according to Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD. The Taoiseach was commenting in a  recent Government announcement of temporary and targeted measures to reduce fuel prices for households and businesses in order to shield them from the recent hikes in fuel prices. The measures provide for temporary reductions in the rates of Mineral Oil Tax (MOT) applying to petrol, auto diesel and Marked Gas Oil (MGO), and are in effect from 25 March to 31 May 2026. Read more.

Climate change causing significant damage in Ireland, new Council report finds

The Climate Change Advisory Council’s latest report: Annual Review 2026 - Our Changing Climate in 2025, finds that climate change is having measurable impacts in Ireland, with growing risks for communities, infrastructure, essential services and the economy. Read more here.

CSO’s findings on enterprise economy statistics through sustainability lens

Research published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has found that almost a third of Irish enterprises used ICT in 2025 to reduce their environmental impact, slightly ahead of the EU average. It also found that investing in technological innovation can support enterprise resilience, efficiency and competitiveness as well as environmental sustainability within enterprises, allowing enterprises to use fewer resources while producing the same or greater output. Read more here.

Research finds no evidence linking minimum wage increase to low-paid worker job-loss

Recent increases to the minimum wage in Ireland did not lead to low-paid workers losing their jobs, according to research published by the ESRI. A key concern for minimum wage policy – which saw Ireland’s minimum wage in Ireland increase every year from 2016 to 2025 – is whether raising the minimum wage would cause low paid workers to lose their jobs if employers reduced their workforce due to higher labour costs. The ESRI study found no evidence that recent minimum wage increases in Ireland increased the likelihood of minimum wage employees losing their jobs in the six-month period following a minimum wage. The research also addressed concerns that employees under 20 years (who can be paid less than the full adult minimum wage) would lose their jobs once they ‘aged into’ a higher minimum wage band.

NORTHERN IRELAND/UK

Northern Ireland’s third Climate Change Adaptation Programme published

Northern Ireland’s third Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programme (‘NICCAP3’) has been launched by DAERA Minister Andrew Muir. The adaptation action plan brings together actions from across government and a range of key stakeholders in response to the latest UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), setting out over 280 actions to help all sectors of society to adapt to and building the region’s resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Commenting Dr Lisa McIlvenna, Managing Director at Business in the Community NI, stressed the importance of climate adaptation for the economy. Referring to the 2025 NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey report which showed that 67 percent of respondents from businesses had experienced direct or indirect impacts from climate change in the past five years, Dr McIlvenna commented: “The impacts of climate change on businesses are escalating, disrupting productivity and supply chains, damaging premises and infrastructure, increasing insurance costs, and posing physical health risks to employees through severe weather and flooding. Many businesses across Northern Ireland are already experiencing the damaging effects of these events, and climate projections suggest the risks will only increase. Building resilience to climate change now is critical to protecting our business sector and the wider economy.”

Extension of public consultation on Draft Nature Recovery Strategy

Northern Ireland’s DAERA Minister Andrew Muir has extended the public consultation for the draft Nature Recovery Strategy by four weeks to 15 April 2026. The draft Nature Recovery Strategy contains five strategic objectives and clear actions to help deliver transformation across government, business and society to safeguard and restore nature and biodiversity. Identifying the loss of nature and ecosystems as having economic implications globally and locally, the Strategy cites the landmark Dasgupta Review of the Economics of Biodiversity (2021) which asserted that nature is a blind spot in economics, and called for nature to be treated as an asset to be valued, protected, and restored.

UK Government announces energy security measures

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has set out an accelerated package of energy interventions to boost the UK’s energy security. Measures include easy-to-use ‘plug-in solar’, low-cost solar panels to be made available for the first time at supermarkets for placing on balconies or outdoor space. The government is also working with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to ensure that fuel suppliers cannot engage in unfair practices towards consumers such as price gouging, and is consulting on new powers to clamp down on speculative electricity grid connection applications. 

The measures aim to support the government’s “clean energy superpower mission” and maintain energy security by tackling backlogs in the queue, while unblocking projects that are vital to innovation, economic growth and decarbonisation.

EUROPE

Negotiations for UK’s participation in EU’s internal energy market gets green light

The European Council has formally authorised the European Commission to open negotiations with the UK on two agreements regarding the UK’s participation in the EU’s internal electricity market and on an appropriate UK financial contribution to the EU’s cohesion policy.

The aim of the electricity agreement is to allow the UK’s participation in both the wholesale and retail EU internal electricity market. It envisages alignment of UK laws to EU rules to create a level playing field between the parties, “significantly contributing to energy securityfor both parties, especially amid the current geopolitical turmoil”.  It aims to improve the efficiency of the electricity trading between the parties, and facilitate investments in electricity infrastructure, including renewable electricity generation that is necessary to achieve both sides’ net zero ambitions. The agreement on the UK’s financial contributionis part of a consistent EU policy that couples the granting of market access to a third country with a fair financial contribution reflecting the benefits derived from such access.

RESOURCES

Technical Roundup

(from our colleagues in Professional Accounting)

• The European Commission (EC) has published draft Commission Delegated Regulations (draft delegated acts) proposing amendments to the EU Taxonomy climate and environmental delegated acts. The comment period ends on 14 April 2026.
• The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) new webcast Climate resilience and climate-related scenario analysis requirements in IFRS S2 discusses some of the requirements of the S2 standard and how companies might meet their reporting requirements in relation to climate resilience and the use of climate-related scenario analysis. This factsheet also provides an overview of the webcast.
• As the number of companies preparing their Sustainability Report using the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME) increases, EFRAG is asking preparers to contribute to the development of the standard by completing a survey and submitting their report. The feedback received from this initiative will be used to develop their VSME Ecosystem.
• EFRAG has launched its new interactive version of their Technical Advice on the Draft Simplified ESRS on their Knowledge Hub. This allows users to explore the advice and understand how the proposed simplifications connect to the 2023 version of the ESRS.

Accountancy Europe – Sustainability Update

The March issue of Accountancy Europe’s Sustainability Update this month includes the following highlights:

• EC proposes changes to EU Taxonomy Environmental and Climate Delegated Acts
• EC calls for technical advice on Taxonomy Disclosures delegated act
• Omnibus Directive amending sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements enters into force
• Council adopts amended Climate Law
• CEAOB comments on revised ESRS

UN Global Compact resources

• EU Sustainability Navigator: On-Demand Recording Now Available: recording, presentation slides, and answers to key questions from the session 'From Regulation to Results: Navigating EU Omnibus I to Drive Ambition and Impact' are now available on the UN Global Compact Academy platform.
• EU Corporate Sustainability Regulation: Overview & Reference Guide: comprehensive reference guide covering key EU sustainability regulations and recent developments — a useful resource for companies mapping their obligations under CSRD, CSDDD, and related legislation.
• New e-Learning Modules: Science-Based Targets: five new and enhanced e-learning modules from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) guide companies through every step of target setting and validation — from an introduction to science-based targets, through to specialist modules for SMEs and the Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) sector. Available on the UN Global Compact Academy.
• Business & Human Rights Navigator: Digital & Emerging Technologies: a new issue page on Digital and Emerging Technologies and Human Rights for companies seeking to understand and manage human rights risks in the digital space.
• Procurement as a Catalyst for Sustainable Growth: 40 practical tools and frameworks, global case studies, and company insights to help organisations embed sustainability across the procurement lifecycle — including how collaboration between buyers and suppliers, particularly SMEs, drives results. 

ARTICLES

• IPSASB SRS 1, Climate-related Disclosures Marks a Milestone in Advancing Climate Finance and Public Sector Transparency (IPSASB)
• Clarifying and consolidating EU Taxonomy FAQs (Accountancy Europe)
• Europe’s Green Power Revolution Softens Iran Energy Price Shock (Bloomberg)
• Ireland must prepare ‘evacuation’ plans for coastal areas as climate change intensifies, says expert (Irish Times)

EVENTS

Enterprise Ireland, Sustainability Kickstarter Workshops
A half‑day workshop series designed to support business leaders in recognising the strategic importance of sustainability and decarbonisation. The sessions provide practical skills to integrate core sustainability principles, identify competitive opportunities, and build actionable plans to meet rising customer expectations for sustainable products and services. Workshops | Dates & Times
• Friday, 17 April 2026 | Half‑day workshop
• Friday, 8 May 2026 | Half‑day workshop

IBEC, Briefing: Voluntary Sustainability Reporting for SMEs - VSME
At this briefing Lorraine McCann, Managing Director, Sustainability Reporting Lead, KPMG will provide an overview of the voluntary sustainability reporting standard (VSME), the key reporting requirements and how it can assist SMEs in responding to requests for information from companies in their value chain. The briefing is for any SME business that wishes to become more informed on the voluntary sustainability reporting standard (VSME) and the potential benefit to their business, as well as senior leaders, owners, compliance managers, risk managers, sustainability managers, environmental and EHS professionals, accountants, operations managers, employees with sustainability reporting as part of their role
Virtual |Monday 27 April | 3.00pm – 3.45pm |  Free, booking required

Sustainability Centre

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