Sustainability/ESG bulletin, Friday 27 October 2023

In this week’s Sustainability/ESG bulletin, read about Ireland’s first national Bioeconomy Action Plan, and how studies show that Irish people are largely supportive of climate policies. Also covered is new funding available for solutions to bias and discrimination in AI systems, and a public consultation on zero emissions heavy goods vehicles in the UK, a report revealing the progress of climate action in the EU, the growth of climate risk assessments in national adaptation policies, and the usual roundup of updates, articles and events.

Ireland’s first national Bioeconomy Action Plan publishes

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, T.D., and Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D., have announced the publication of Ireland’s first National Bioeconomy Action Plan for 2023-2025. The Action Plan will have a strong focus on bringing sustainable scientific practices, technologies, and biobased innovation into use on farms and by biobased industries in Ireland. The ‘bioeconomy’ is the production, utilisation, and regeneration of biobased materials to provide sustainable nature based and biobased solutions across all economic sectors.

EPA finds Irish people largely supportive of climate policies

Insight reports published this week by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have found that Irish people are largely supportive of climate change policies. Opposition that arises appears to be driven by practical concerns, rather than by climate-change scepticism, according to the study. The youngest adults (18-24 years) consistently exhibit significantly higher levels of concern, with young women most concerned about climate change. The reports – ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind - Support for Climate Policies’ and ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind - Climate Risk Perceptions’ – are both from the EPA's study ‘Climate Change in the Irish Mind’ which focuses on the national responses to risk perceptions and policy support. The reports provide a detailed examination of some of the findings of the baseline study published in 2021.

UK funding and public consultation

Innovate UK is working with the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI), part of the UK’s Department for Science Innovation and Technology, to invest up to £400,000 to drive the development of novel solutions to address bias and discrimination in artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The deadline for applications is 13 December 2023.  

Separately, grants from the Department of Transport are being made available to businesses seeking to provide solutions to some of transport’s most pressing issues, including decarbonisation. Applications will stay open until Monday 27 November 2023.

The Department has also launched a public consultation seeking views sought to inform the development of a zero-emission heavy goods vehicle and coach infrastructure strategy. The call for evidence closes on 14 December 2023.

State of the Energy Union 2023: Further action needed to accelerate climate action

The 2023 State of the Energy Union report published this week and found that the EU’s net greenhouse gas emissions decreased by approximately 3 percent in 2022, continuing a 30-year downward trend (having fallen by 32.5 percent compared with 1990). The report also revealed an increase in the volume of carbon removed from the atmosphere in the EU compared to the previous year. However, based on Member States' projections, the EU is currently not on track to reach its 2030 objective of removing 310 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year, and the EU and its Member States need to significantly step up their implementation efforts and accelerate emissions reduction to stay on track to reach the 2030 -55 percent net greenhouse gas reduction target and climate neutrality by 2050.

Climate risk assessments in national adaptation policies

Climate risk assessments that take account of threats like heatwaves, droughts, floods and wildfires are increasingly being used to inform and improve national adaptation policies. This is according to the latest European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment of national adaptation actions published this week. The briefing, ‘Is Europe on track towards climate resilience? Status of reported national adaptation actions in 2023’, presented the current status of national adaptation actions across Europe. It found a gradually evolving adaptation policy landscape, sub-national adaptation policymaking progressing in all countries, governance-related challenges It also found that EU funds play a major role in financing adaptation action for most Member States.

‘Adaptation’ to climate change means taking action to adjust to its present and future impacts. Examples of adaptation measures include large-scale infrastructure changes, such as building defences to protect against sea-level rise, as well behavioural shifts, such as individuals reducing their food waste.

Inequality in Europe

Ireland has been given an overall gender equality score of 73 in an EU index published this week by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE). The score represents a drop of 1.3 points since 2020 – the largest decline among the EU’s 27 countries. Ireland has dropped two places to rank ninth place overall. The index reportedly found that that gender inequalities are more ‘pronounced’ in Irish workplaces than they were in the last decade and when compared with pre-pandemic (2020) levels, and that both women and men in Ireland are less likely to choose low-carbon modes of transport than their counterparts elsewhere in the EU.

Separately, a report published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has found that people of African descent routinely face racial discrimination, harassment and violence in all aspects of their lives. 45 percent of respondents said they experienced racial discrimination in the five years before the survey, and 34 percent felt racially discriminated against when looking for a job. The FRA is calling on EU countries to take urgent steps to tackle racial discrimination and harassment to ensure everybody is treated equally and with dignity.

Sustainable Finance Skillnet is offering funded training opportunities until October and November 2023 to Irish employees in the financial services sector at 30 percent of course fees (with 70 percent funding available for members of the International Sustainable Finance Centre of Excellence). A series of short, deep dive training modules on key sustainable finance topics include

 •           EU Taxonomy

•            Net-Zero

•            SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation)

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Building Better Business in the South-West

Free business event in Cork, focusing on the opportunities and challenges presented by the green economy and digital transformation.
In person: Thursday, 9 November

iQuest & Business Post Events: The ESG Summit
In person: Thursday, 9 November, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin

ICAEW Climate Summit
Week-long summit
Virtual: 13-17 November.

Climate Finance Week Ireland 2023
Week-long summit.
In person and virtual: Monday, 20 November – Friday, 24 November

Innovate UK's showcase for climate tech event in Northern Ireland
Innovate UK is delivering a series of 18 'showcase for climate tech' events across the UK until September 2025. Each event focuses on a specific net zero theme or technology area. The Northern Ireland event, run in partnership with Business in the Community NI, will take place in Belfast on 6 December 2023 and will focus on digital solutions for net zero.
In person: 6 December

Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reporting

Classes start Wednesday 8 November
Due to popular demand, our Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reporting for accountants is back again in November 2023. Over 8 weeks, you'll cover key reporting frameworks and metrics, and learn to address the ESG opportunities and challenges that organisations already face.

Network for Chartered Accountants working on ESG projects

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

• 3rd or 4th Wednesday of every month
• Next: 22 November 2023 
• 14.00-15.00/30
• Teams

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

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