With the launch of the 1,000 Chartered Accountants campaign, four members explain what they are doing personally to combat the climate crisis and share their advice to help others in the profession do the same.
Kate van der Merwe
Sustainability advocate
I grew up with an appreciation of nature, its power and our place in it. As my awareness of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss grew, so did my frustration and sadness with the inequitable, one-dimensional systems we’ve become embedded in and their repercussions. However, the recent emphasis on holistic, inclusive, multidisciplinary thinking gives me hope.
Over time, as I learn more about sustainability, I have adapted my personal and professional choices to minimise my carbon footprint and drive positive impact. I’ve been pleasantly surprised that these changes often yield unanticipated benefits. Personally, I focused on my consumption (energy use, diet, travel, consumer choices) and finances (pensions and savings). Professionally, I brought a sustainability perspective to my roles, such as flagging future regulatory considerations and chairing the Young Professionals 2017 sustainability-themed year. I went on to do a MSc in Renewable Energy and Environmental Finance and am exploring roles that will give me more direct sustainability scope and impact.
There’s a growing acceptance that business-as-usual won’t continue, as it will be transformed either by devastating climate breakdown or deliberate, significant lifestyle and system changes to avoid the worst. When people are informed about issues, they can have a very strong will for action, as demonstrated by the Citizens Assembly which proposed the most stringent climate action, subsequently diluted within the Climate Action Plan.
Each individual has a unique set of strengths and sphere of influence to make their positive climate impact, be it towards personal or system change. Considerations may include democratic action (e.g. voting), consumption habits and financial decision-making. Within the workplace, every decision – budget allocation/investment, targets etc. – must incorporate a sustainability perspective. How does the decision benefit society? What are the emissions/energy/biodiversity impacts across the product/service lifecycle? Is the impact equitable? These considerations are key for the future and align with the EU sustainable finance trajectory (green and socially inclusive). We need holistic and multidisciplinary approaches for comprehensive solutions. It’s time to ask questions, get creative and collaborate. We urgently need bold and brave action!
Dr Judith Wylie
Senior Lecturer, Ulster University Business School
I love the great outdoors – living near the beach has given me an appreciation of the importance of blue water, clear sky and green space. Having local spaces where we can walk, swim, explore and find peace have become even more important to us all in recent times.
My interest in sustainability has led me to researching Irish companies’ approach to corporate social responsibility. At the beginning of my studies, almost 10 years ago, I was told “you can’t study ‘hugging dolphins!’” What is pleasing, however, is how much this attitude has changed over the last decade with increased corporate action and public awareness of sustainability issues. My own research indicates that many Irish companies are listening to stakeholder concerns and are providing innovative solutions on climate change as well as committing to important sustainability goals.
It can be overwhelming when we hear news of the climate crisis and how much we have damaged our planet already; it can be easy to wonder what difference a single action can make. However, taking responsibility for small things can collectively have a big impact. I love fashion but I am conscious that the World Bank reported that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. By moving away from ‘fast fashion’ and being more conscious about investing in sustainable brands, hiring clothes for special occasions and buying second-hand, I can make a difference and have fun in the process!
We can all try to reduce our carbon footprints both at home and in our workplaces. Set the example for your family, friends, and co-workers. For example, eat less red meat each week, take public transport or cycle to work, or encourage the businesses you engage with to operate more sustainably. Although making changes can be difficult, use your hope for a better world to drive you and bring others along on the journey to a more sustainable society.
Tommy McLoughlin
Founder & CEO at ButterflyCup
My colleague, Joe Lu, invented ButterflyCup to eliminate the need for plastic lids and was looking for a business partner to help commercialise his invention. When introduced, I immediately saw its potential in the takeaway coffee and cold drinks sectors.
Our cup does not require a water-proof laminated plastic coating, thereby eliminating the plastic normally required for both regular plastic-coated paper cups and for plastic lids. 600 billion cups and 600 billion lids are used globally each year between hot and cold drinks – that’s a lot of plastic.
People are generally well-intentioned, but change happens relatively slowly – even when the facts are compelling. The key to rapidly altering behaviours at the pace now required because of climate change is a combination of meaningful (rather than token) regulatory incentives, disincentives and bans. Rebalancing business and customer costs is critical to changed behaviour.
For example, most people are now favourably disposed to switching to electric cars, but the cost differential remains prohibitive. This also applies to the over-use of plastic, which has a high negative environmental impact in both its production and disposal. If changes are made so that plastic costs more, it will be used less.
Improved infrastructure in areas such as vehicle electrification, waste segregation and recycling is also key to progress.
It is vital that businesses operate for the greater good rather than focusing on narrow and short-term self-interest. Unfortunately, many big corporates that are motivated by share price, CEO bonuses and so on act to protect the status quo by engaging in ‘greenwashing’ and often misleading PR while at the same time lobbying legislators in order to delay and derail environmentally positive progress – similar to how the tobacco and oil industries behaved in the past.
The voluntary actions of businesses and consumers alone is inadequate to achieve vital climate targets. Real environmental reform must be driven by legislation and regulation.
Probably the most effective contribution individuals can make is to call out bad practices and advocate for positive change, both within their work and business networks and on social media. Plus, as consumers, people need to ‘vote with their feet’ by actively supporting ethically sustainable businesses, products and practices.
Prof. Pat Barker
Lecturer in Business Ethics, DCU
Chartered Accountants, as professional individuals, should take a lead in focusing on what they, as individuals, are doing when it comes to fighting climate change. It’s not enough to look to big corporations and government, loudly demanding that they need to do something. Neither is it enough for us to wave generally in the direction of turning off lights at home, reducing food waste, flying less and investing in green pension funds. We need to change our lifestyles in ways that really pinch and evoke the ‘ouch’ response.
My ouch response was caused by my 11-year-old granddaughter’s suggestion that I, her mother and she adopt the One Dress for 100 Days Challenge. She hit me with this climate change challenge just as I contemplated the impending opening of the shops and the delicious prospect of buying myself some new clothes, footwear, underwear, makeup and some accessories after 14 months of lockdown. She scrambled up onto her Zoom soapbox and told me that I still have a wardrobe of perfectly wearable clothes, there’s no need to have a different outfit every day; that I wash my clothes too much and that nobody notices what I wear anyway. She delivered the killer blow – I was supporting the waste of scarce resources, encouraging child labour, and unnecessarily filling up landfill. So, I agreed to give it a shot and the three of us are now on day 20 as I write this.
The feeling of doing something positive for the environment is accentuated by a sense of finding contentment in a life of less. I have recognised that 90% of the clothes we wash are not dirty enough to be put into a washing machine. I have been digging into the depths of my wardrobe to change the look of the dress and have not bought anything new. I don’t know how I will feel after 100 days, but I notice that my focus has shifted from how I look in my clothes to feeling comfortable in my own skin. Most people have not noticed that I am wearing the same dress day after day and I have embraced my own rejection of a life of unsustainable over-consumption.
I am definitely experiencing the ‘ouch’, but I do expect the lessons (if not the dress!) to persist beyond the 100 days.
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