In this week’s Sustainability/ESG bulletin, read about climate technology opportunities, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the introduction of incentivised waste collection charges in the commercial sector, and government approval for the General Scheme of legislation addressing energy sector windfall gains. Also covered is the reduction in grants available for private EV purchase, a consultation on a proposed extension to the UK’s Climate Change Agreement scheme, and EU proposals on a hydrogen bank and on the right to repair and tackling greenwashing. Climate-aligned solutions – the climate tech opportunity In an interview this week with Institute Sustainability Officer, Susan Rossney, Aideen O’Hora discussed climate innovation, the role of accountants and finance professionals, and the range of Irish climate tech companies that demonstrate the potential for Ireland as a global leader in climate technology. Examples of climate technology are in all sectors, focusing on both mitigation (reducing emissions) and adapting to the effects of climate change. A co-founder of consultancy company SustainabilityWorks, Aideen is a climate innovation advocate and one of the co-authors of a recent report with PWC on The Irish Climate Tech Opportunity 2023 Watch the recording here (15 mins)  “Everything, everywhere, all at once” - the IPCC global climate change report The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’) has published its latest report urging governments and policy makers to act decisively to ensure a liveable future for humanity. The Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report represents the most up-to-date consensus among the world’s scientists about climate change, its impacts, and actions to take. The report finds that with current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, commitments made by countries to decarbonise are unlikely to prevent global temperatures increasing by more than 1.5°C, or even 2°C. Going above these thresholds will result in catastrophic  impacts of climate change. The report states that there is a wide range of feasible and effective options available to countries to reduce emissions. It proposes “climate resilient development,” involving integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits. Speaking about the report, Laura Burke, Director General of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), described the IPCC findings as “clear, stark and challenging”, and reinforcing the urgent need for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while adapting to the current and future impacts of climate change. Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, stated that climate change is causing widespread and increasingly irreversible losses and damages, leaving us with “a rapidly closing window of opportunity to maintain a liveable future for all”.  UN Secretary-General António Guterres described IPCC’s report as a “how-to guide to defuse the climate time-bomb” and declared that climate action is needed on all fronts: “everything, everywhere, all at once” (a reference to this year’s Best Film Academy Award winner). IPCC is the UN body tasked with undertaking scientific knowledge about human-caused changes to our climate. To do this, it conducts periodic reviews of all relevant scientific publications, enlisting thousands of scientists and experts. The IPCC reports represent the most up-to-date consensus among the world's scientists about climate change, its impacts, and what to do about it. IPCC reports aim to inform governments about the state of knowledge on climate change, including possible response options and the natural, economic, and social impacts and risks. Incentivised waste collection charges for the commercial sector New legislation signed this week will introduce incentivised charging for waste collection in the commercial sector. The Waste Management (Collection Permit) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 will bring the commercial sector in line with the residential sector, for which incentivised pricing has been in place since 2017. Measures under the new legislation include the requirement on all waste collection companies to provide a residual, mixed dry recyclable and bio-waste bin to all their commercial customers, and that all commercial customers are placed onto a price plan that ensures that the cost to the customer for mixed dry recyclable or bio-waste is less than the cost of disposal for municipal waste. The introduction of this measure should not result in higher waste collection charges for commercial customers, and collection of recyclable waste and bio-waste must occur at least fortnightly. The legislation will come into effect on 1 July 2023. Government approval for General Scheme of legislation addressing energy sector windfall gains Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, has announced government approval of the General Scheme of the Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) Bill 2023, the legislation to implement the temporary solidarity contribution and the cap on market revenues to address windfall gains in the energy sector. The proceeds to be raised is currently estimated as between €280-€600 million and will be used to support electricity customers in mitigating the impact of high electricity prices. The draft General Scheme can be found here. Reduction in grants for private EVs Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), an office within the Department of Transport, has confirmed that the maximum private vehicle car grant will be set at €3,500 for applications from July 1, 2023, down from the current maximum of €5,000. Vehicle incentives for business will remain the same with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) continuing to administer commercially bought EVs and large panel vans grants at current levels. The small public service vehicles (SPSV) grant for taxi and hackney drivers administered by the NTA was renewed in February, while the Alternatively Fuelled Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme, managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has also remained unchanged. Government investment strategy for electric vehicles will begin to rebalance towards supporting EV charging infrastructure to bring Ireland in line with European nations such as Norway, Germany and France which have similar policies. Climate Change Agreements: consultation on extension and future scheme (2023) The UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has launched a consultation on proposals for an extension to the current Climate Change Agreement scheme, and on further proposals resulting from an earlier consultation. The consultation seeks views on an extension to the current scheme, adding a reporting period between 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. This will result in another certification period ending on 31 March 2027, providing further reductions in the Climate Change Levy for participants. The consultation closes at 11.45pm on Wednesday 10 May 2023. Developments in Europe The European Commission has published its Net-Zero Industry Act, a proposal aimed at boosting Europe’s green industry. The Act is a key part of the European Green Deal Industrial Plan, EU’s response to the US massive green subsidies package under the Inflation Reduction Act. The Commission also released a proposal for a Critical Raw Materials Act, which aims to ensure a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials needed for green transition technologies like wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries, along with a proposal for a European Hydrogen Bank, to boost renewable hydrogen production and imports. It further adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods, with which it aims to reduce waste, tackle greenwashing and protect consumers. FCA outlines where improvements are needed in ESG benchmarks From our colleagues in Professional Accounting Correspondence in September 2022 from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to benchmark administrators in the UK highlighted the risk of poor disclosures for ESG benchmarks. The FCA said that high quality ESG benchmarks are important to support trust in the market for ESG products and the transition to a net zero economy. The FCA has completed a preliminary review on ESG benchmarks which found that the overall quality of ESG-related disclosures made by benchmark administrators was poor and it has sent a further letter to administrators outlining the issues identified. These include not enough detail on the ESG factors considered in benchmark methodologies and not fully implementing ESG disclosure requirements.  You can read the follow-on correspondence which details the issues here. The FCA has also indicated that it supports regulation of ESG ratings and is  working closely with Government on this. Podcasts Professor Hannah Daly, Specialist in Sustainable Energy in UCC, and Eamon Stack, Policy Officer with  the Irish Electric Vehicle Owners Association, discuss the government decision to cut the private electric vehicle grant from July (Radio 1) What the SVB Collapse Means for Climate Tech - What happens when a "climate bank" goes under? (Zero from Bloomberg Green) Articles Weakened EU greenwashing rules under attack - Environmental guidelines watered down from draft proposals after heavy business lobbying (Financial Times) How a tax break meant to curb climate change could make it worse - Green hydrogen (Washington Post) A tractor than runs on manure  (Bloomberg) Greta Thunberg, 600 others get court nod to sue Swedish state for "insufficient climate policy" (RTÉ News) Q&A: How the EU wants to race to net-zero with ‘Green Deal Industrial Plan’ (Carbon Brief) Competitions Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) is now accepting applications for the A4S Academy 2023. The 18-month programme will begin at the end of June 2023, with applications closing on 31st March. More details, including programme outline, eligibility and fees are on the A4S website or by email. Upcoming Events   Invest Northern Ireland/Keep NI Beautiful - Interested in becoming more climate smart in your home, business, local community? Wondering where to start? Invest Northern Ireland will be hosting a free webinar in partnership with Keep NI Beautiful to describe what changes we can make as individuals, groups, and organisations to make a significant impact, 28 March 10:00 – 11:15 Clearstream Solutions and sustHub webinar - The Business Case for Sustainability 31 March, 12:00 – 13:00 Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reporting Classes start Wednesday 3 May Following three sellout sittings, our Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reportingfor accountants is back again in May 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. Find out more   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 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 Next : 26 April, 2023 14.00-15.00/30 Chartered Accountant House/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.    

In this week’s public policy bulletin we take a look at the interest rate hikes announced this week by both the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England. We also examine the findings of the latest Wholesale Price Index from the CSO as well as a new initiative from the Government to increase SME access to public procurement opportunities. In addition, we review the Northern Ireland economic output statistics for Quarter 4 2022.   US Federal Reserve and Bank of England both announce further interest rate hikes This week the US Federal Reserve announced that its benchmark interest rate would rise another quarter of a percentage point to a range of 4.75 per cent to 5 per cent – its ninth consecutive rate rise and the highest rate since 2007. In a statement accompanying the announcement, the Federal Reserve noted how recent developments in the banking sector “are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation”. Meanwhile, the Bank of England raised interest rates by a further quarter of a percentage point on Thursday bringing its headline rate to 4.25 per cent. Wholesale electricity prices fall while food prices rise in year to February 2023 In its latest Wholesale Price Index for February 2023, the CSO has reported that wholesale electricity prices decreased by 1.8 per cent since January 2023 and were 9.2 per cent lower in February 2023 when compared with February 2022. However, in the same period, producer prices for food products rose by 6.2 per cent meaning that producer prices for products sold on the domestic market are now 10.6 per cent higher than they were in February 2022.  Some of the most notable changes in producer prices for food products over the 12 months to February 2023 include dairy (+23.8 per cent), fish (+18.2 per cent), fruit & vegetables (+18.2 per cent) and grain (+12.2 per cent). Government launch new initiative to support greater SME participation in public procurement opportunities Cabinet have this week approved a new government initiative aimed at supporting SME participation in public procurement. The initiative will act as an update to previous guidance, which introduced a number of measures aimed at assisting SMEs to access public procurement opportunities. The new provisions include: an increase to the threshold at which all contracts for goods and services must be advertised on eTenders from €25,000 to €50,000 (ex VAT) an increase to the threshold at which all contracts for works must be advertised on eTenders from €50,000 to €200,000 (ex VAT) enhanced measures that public bodies should take to promote transparency, including a requirement to publish contract award information for all procurements over €25,000 specific measures that public bodies should take to promote SME participation, including the use of proportionate financial capacity and insurance requirements Latest Northern Ireland economic output statistics This week saw the publication of the latest economic output statistics by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). According to the publication, output in the services sector increased by 1 per cent in real terms over the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 1.8 per cent over the year putting NI service output at a record high. Meanwhile, production sector output decreased by 0.6 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2022 and by 1 per cent over the year. Retail output saw an increase of 2.2 per cent in Quarter 4 2022 but a decrease of 2.3 per cent over the year. When comparing current output with the pre-Coronavirus pandemic levels seen in Quarter 4 2019, NI production output is 4.5 per cent above its pre-pandemic level and NI service output is 6.2 per cent above its pre-pandemic level. In contrast, NI retail output remains 4.5 per cent below its pre-pandemic level seen in Quarter 4 2019.

  In this week’s Sustainability/ESG bulletin, read about sustainability in the 2023 Action Plan approved to deliver the Ireland for Finance Strategy. Also covered is the launch of a set of statutory guidelines to assist local authorities in preparing climate action plans, the €2.1 million funding announced for research into innovative climate solutions, a stakeholder survey on sustainability and offsetting in Northern Ireland and the proposed reform of EU’s electricity market design, as well as articles, podcasts, and events.  Sustainability and Ireland’s Action Plan - updated Finance Strategy ‘Revising and updating the Government’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap’, and developing ‘an updated sustainable finance value proposition’ are among the 12 key deliverables of the first Action Plan for delivering the Ireland for Finance Strategy. The 2023 Action plan, which received Cabinet approval last week, follows an update to the Ireland for Finance strategy in 2022, which sets out the key measures that the public and private stakeholders will take this year to support the further development of the international financial services sector in Ireland. Local authority climate action plans See also news from our colleagues in Professional Accounting [link] The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan, T.D., has launched a set of statutory guidelines to assist local authorities in preparing local authority climate action plans.  Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, each local authority in Ireland must prepare a local authority climate action plan for its respective administrative area. The plans are to enable them to address, in an integrated way, the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation and strengthen the alignment between national climate policy and the delivery of effective local climate action. Once adopted, each plan will be valid for five years. €2.1 million announced for research into innovative climate solutions Funding of €2.1 million has been announced for six new research teams who are developing innovative solutions to climate action challenges. The research teams will compete as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Challenge. Run in partnership between Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Irish Aid, the focus of the SDG Challenge is the development of innovative solutions relating to challenges associated with climate, biodiversity and the environment, with a specific objective of addressing challenges in countries where Irish Aid works.  The challenge will see teams competing for an overall prize of €1 million as they tackle climate action issues on life below water and life on land. Northern Ireland stakeholder survey on sustainability and offsetting Belfast City Council is conducting a stakeholder survey on sustainability and the level of interest in offsetting. The survey is to evaluate the opportunity for a local offsetting scheme in Northern Ireland. (While not reducing GHG emissions, offsetting is a commonly used means of compensating for GHG emissions and delivering progress towards Net Zero targets and ambitions.) The survey includes 24 questions and will take approximately five minutes to complete. There will be two short online briefings about the project at 10am on Wednesday 22 March and 10am on Thursday 23 March, and the survey will close on Friday 14 April 2023. Read more Proposed reform of EU’s electricity market design The European Commission has proposed to reform the EU’s electricity market design to “boost renewables, better protect consumers and enhance industrial competitiveness”.  Part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan and in line with the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan, the proposed reform foresees revisions to several pieces of EU legislation and aims to decrease the impact of fossil fuels on consumer electricity bills, boost “open and fair competition” in the European wholesale energy markets, and ensure a sustainable and independent energy supply to the EU through building a renewables-based energy system. The proposals will have to be discussed and agreed by the European Parliament and the Council before entering into force.     Ask the Expert Interview – Climate Technology Opportunities Aideen O’Hara, Co-Founder of SustainabilityWorks, climate innovation advocate and lead co-author of a recent report with PWC on The Irish Climate Tech Opportunity 2023, will join Institute’s Sustainability Officer Susan Rossney on Thursday, 23 March for a lunchtime Q&A to discuss climate innovation and the range of Irish climate tech companies that demonstrate the potential for Ireland as a global leader in climate technology. Register free here.  Podcasts Interview with Oisín Coughlan, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth about Ireland’s Climate Policy goals (Listen Back) (7 mins) Articles EU green deal efforts at risk of ‘being compromised’ (Irish Times) Transforming the worst performing dwellings into energy-efficient homes could lift people out of energy poverty (Irish Independent) Global floods and droughts worsening with warming, study suggests (Irish Examiner) UK pension funds threaten to vote against BP and Shell directors over climate targets (Financial Times) UK Labels Nuclear Power ‘Green’ to Attract Climate-Friendly Capital (Bloomberg Green) Are we 50 years away from gender pay equality? (Briefly, from Accountancy Ireland) UN deputy chief warns of faltering progress towards SDGs (UN News) Competitions Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) is now accepting applications for the A4S Academy 2023. The 18-month programme will begin at the end of June 2023, with applications closing on 31st March. More details, including programme outline, eligibility and fees are on the A4S website or by email. Upcoming Events   Trinity College Dublin is running free Climate Action & Sustainability webinars on Wednesdays 1-2pm. Join 12 leading academics in Trinity College Dublin as they speak about technologies and solutions that will help deliver our goals in the areas of Climate Action and Sustainability. Coming up: Is the Circular Economy a Route to Sustainability? As Clear as Plastic? Wednesday 22nd March from 1pm - 2pm Trinity's Green Week (🌍👉http://bit.ly/3JeD8K4) turns 21 this month! It runs from 20-24 March and it's a week to celebrate, learn, explore, network, solve and have fun http://bit.ly/3JeD8K4 Social Enterprise NI is running a range of events for social enterprises or people interested in social entrepreneurship starting on 21 March. Events include ‘eBay for Change’ ‘Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’, ‘Social Enterprise NI: Dragons Den Event’ and ‘Maximise your CRM’.  Find out more. Leinster Society Sustainable Fashion: Workwear Essentials  - Wednesday 22 March | 12:30pm – 1:30pm - with personal stylist Orla Sheridan to discuss how to be more sustainable in our everyday fashion choices, both at home and in the workplace. She will discuss the "30 wear rule" and talk us through some key wardrobe essentials for the office. Natural Capital Investment Conference 2023 22 March, London Invest Northern Ireland/Keep NI Beautiful - Interested in becoming more climate smart in your home, business, local community? Wondering where to start? Invest Northern Ireland will be hosting a free webinar in partnership with Keep NI Beautiful to describe what changes we can make as individuals, groups, and organisations to make a significant impact 28 March 10:00 – 11:15 Clearstream Solutions and sustHub webinar - The Business Case for Sustainability 31 March, 12:00 – 13:00 Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reporting Classes start Wednesday 3 May Following three sellout sittings, our Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reportingfor accountants is back again in May 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. Find out more   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 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 Next : 22 March, 2023 14.00-15.00/30 Chartered Accountant House/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.