Sustainability/ESG bulletin, Friday 13 January 2023 ​

In this week’s Sustainability/ESG bulletin, read about a webinar on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, NTMA’s sale of a new green bond, and updates to the TBESS and Cycle to Work schemes. Also covered is a public consultation on draft Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland, the ‘polycrisis’ list from the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023, Chartered Accountants Ireland’s new network for Chartered Accountants working in ESG, and articles, podcast and jobs.

Save the date: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Webinar on Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) will hold a webinar on Thursday 26 January (10am-12pm) to explain the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The Directive and accompanying mandatory reporting standards will apply to large companies whether listed or not, and to listed SMEs. Companies will have to report on their impact on the environment, social and governance matters and human rights, based on common standards, and the information companies provide will be audited. Registration will be open soon, but in the meantime save the date, and email any other questions to csrd@enterprise.gov.ie. 

NTMA raises €3.5 billion from the sale of a new 20-year green bond

(From our Public Policy team)

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has raised €3.5 billion through the syndicated sale of a new 20-year Irish Sovereign Green Bond (ISGB), maturing in October 2043. The funds were raised at a yield of 3.106 percent and generated a total order book of €35 billion from just under 300 investors. An increasingly popular form of sustainable finance, green bonds are a type of fixed income instrument the proceeds from which must be used for environmental and sustainable development projects. This is Ireland's second sovereign green bond, following the inaugural issue in October 2018.

Updates on the TBESS and the Cycle to Work Schemes

(From our Tax team)

• Revenue has updated the guidelines on the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) with additional information following queries received by businesses wishing to avail of the scheme. A summary of the changes is outlined in the “What’s new” page at the beginning of the guidelines.
• Revenue has also updated the Tax and Duty Manual regarding the Cycle to Work Scheme to reflect the Finance Act 2022 amendments. The guidance now includes a definition of cargo bike for the purposes of availing of the higher exemption limit of €3,000, together with updated examples.

Broader scorecard planned for National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC)

Changes to the competitiveness indicators typically used by the for National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) have been announced, following a review of potential additional benchmark data sources. Changes include the inclusion of sustainability and equality indicators. The NCPC Scorecard benchmarks the competitiveness of Ireland’s business sector against international peer countries. The change was reportedly prompted by ‘[g]lobal transformations, such as the twin digital and green transitions and the shift towards sustainability and equality’. In its bulletin, NCPC Secretariat announced that “it [was] timely to consider newly available indicators, including those on sustainability, skills, innovation and well-being, and to refresh the selection of comparator countries, in measuring Ireland’s performance against key competitors and the world’s best performers.”  

Public consultation on draft Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland

The Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland has launched a public consultation on the draft Circular Economy Strategy for Northern Ireland. This draft strategy sets out a vision that by 2050, Northern Ireland will have an innovative, inclusive and competitive economy where business, people and planet flourish, with responsible production and consumption at its core. It will be a key enabler of Northern Ireland’s 10X Economic Vision for a decade of innovation. The overarching target of the Circular Economy strategy is to halve Northern Ireland’s annual material footprint per person to eight tonnes by 2050. The public consultation is open for 10 weeks until 20 March.  

Find out more about the circular economy in the Resources section of Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Sustainability Centre.

€169 million for a just climate transition in Ireland

€169 million from the Just Transition Fund (JTF) will be invested in Ireland following the approval of its Territorial Just Transition Plan (TJTP).  The Fund will invest in economic diversification and job creation in green sectors, particularly in approximately 500 local micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The TJTP also allows for financing under InvestEU (a programme which supports sustainable investment, innovation and job creation in Europe) and the Public Sector Loan Facility for Just Transition, a new tool that combines €1.5 billion of Commission grants with €10 billion loans from the European Investment Bank to mobilise billions of public investment to meet the development needs of just transition territories.

‘The age of the Polycrisis’: the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report published this week, and identified ‘natural disasters and extreme weather events’ and ‘failure to mitigate climate change’ in top 5 risks in both the near-term (2 years) and long-term (10 years).

The report, which tracks global risks perceptions among risk experts and world leaders in business, government, and civil society, examines risks across five categories: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological. While ‘cost of living crisis’ is the number one risk in the short term, in the long term climate-related risks occupied each one of the top five risks places, and included failure to adapt to – as well as mitigate – climate change, biodiversity loss and large scale involuntary migration with natural disasters and extreme weather events. Of these, large scale involuntary migration was the only newly identified risk. A new term emerging the year is ‘polycrisis’, where risks are more interdependent and reciprocally damaging than ever.

Commenting, Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, World Economic Forum warned that “Climate and human development must be at the core of concerns of global leaders, even as they battle current crises. Cooperation is the only way forward.”

Network for Chartered Accountants working in ESG

Are you a Chartered Accountant working in ESG or working on ESG-related projects? Would you like an opportunity to engage with other Chartered Accountants working in this space to share insights, challenges and opportunities?

Chartered Accountant now has a network to allow members working in sustainability/ESG to meet and discuss all matters of interest re ESG and accounting.

• 3rd Wednesday of every month, beginning with 25 January 2023
• 14.00-15.00/30
• Chartered Accountant House/Teams

If you would to attend please email sustainability@charteredaccountants.ie

Articles

• Batteries, hydrogen and storage: Flexibility is new frontier of zero-carbon electricity (Irish Times)
• Q&A: The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: To Whom Does It Apply and What Should EU and Non-EU Companies Consider? (Skadden.com)
• Abu Dhabi oil chief appointed president of COP28 climate summit

  (Financial Times)

Podcasts

Welcome to the age of the polycrisis: the Global Risk Report 2023 (World Economic Forum)

Jobs

Financial/Reporting Accountant for major energy provider in Ireland’s Energy/Sustainability/Renewables sector. Newly qualified ACAs can contact Dave Riordan, Careers Team, Chartered Accountants.