In this week’s bulletin we bring you a final round-up from COP27, news of measures to address windfall gains in Ireland’s energy sector, a consultation on electricity storage, ISIF’s announcement of a €50m initiative to promote female-led investment firms and the fastest growing global ‘green jobs’. Also included is news from Northern Ireland’s Environmental Benchmark Survey, the UK Transition Plan Taskforce publication of its Disclosure Framework and Implementation guidance, and the usual articles, podcast and event recommendations.
A round-up from COP27 - ‘A down-payment on climate justice’
The two-week long international climate summit concluded in Egypt on Sunday 20 November, with a final agreement, the ‘Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan’ creating a loss and damage fund for countries vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Read a round-up of COP27 achievements here.
Measures to address windfall gains in Ireland’s energy sector
Measures are to be introduced to address windfall gains in the energy sector, it was announced this week. Through the implementation of Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854, the Irish Government is to place a cap on all market revenues of non-gas electricity generators, with excess revenues collected and used to support electricity consumers. Proceeds from the cap on market revenues are expected to be collected in 2023, with proceeds from the temporary solidarity contribution to be collected in 2023 and 2024.
Consultation on electricity storage policy for Ireland
The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has opened a consultation to gather the views of interested parties to inform the development of an electricity storage policy for Ireland. The consultation is part of a suite of measures being undertaken by the Government to support the delivery of Ireland’s renewable energy targets and Ireland’s security of supply. Closing date for submissions is 5.30pm on Friday, 27 January 2023, and full details can be found here.
ISIF announces €50m initiative to promote female-led investment firms
The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), which is managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), has announced its ambition to invest a minimum of €50 million over the next two years through private equity firms that are majority-owned by women. By establishing an ambition for investing in female-led investment opportunities, ISIF is seeking to demonstrate its commitment to addressing gender inequality and promoting greater diversity at senior levels – both within ISIF and in the companies and funds in which it invests.
IFAC warns of need to properly cost climate change measures
Ireland’s budgetary watchdog the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) has warned that the expected costs of climate change and other policy initiatives need to be properly costed and factored into long-term risks to public finance. The report, Fiscal Assessment Report, November 2022, which published this week, warns that reducing greenhouse gas emissions - urgently required to mitigate dangerous climate change - will potentially lead to sizeable costs which have not yet been determined.
Irish Government’s funding programme for social inclusion, community energy, and social enterprise projects
Minister for Community Development and Charities, Joe O’Brien, T.D., has announced over €44 million in 2013 for the Social Inclusion and Community Activity Programme (SICAP), which supports communities and individuals to engage with relevant stakeholders in identifying and addressing social exclusion and equality, developing the capacity of Local Community Groups and creating more sustainable communities.
Other funding announced included a new €10 million fund – the Community Support Fund – to support thousands of local community and voluntary groups with their energy bills, and up to €1.5 million in funding for 34 Social Enterprise projects nationwide under the Scaling Up Fund.
Sustainability webinar from Chartered Accountants Ireland Ulster Society – 28 November
Chartered Accountants Ireland Ulster Society is holding a webinar on 28 November 12.30-2.00pm looking at 'The Sustainability Journey - Responsibilities, Strategy and Reporting'. The line-up of expert speakers include Keith Scott (NI Water), Derarca Dennis (EY), Shane O'Reilly (KPGM Sustainable Futures) and David Smith (Kilwaughter Minerals Ltd), who will address the issue of sustainability, how businesses are shaping a sustainability strategy, delivering operational change and meeting their reporting obligations. This webinar will provide a great overview of the challenge, and some first-hand case studies of businesses who are taking significant steps on the sustainability journey.
UK Transition Plan Taskforce publishes Disclosure Framework and Implementation guidance
The UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) has published its Disclosure Framework and accompanying Implementation Guidance, launching a ‘Sandbox’ for companies and financial institutions to test implementation.
Launched by HM Treasury in April 2022, the TPT has a two-year mandate to develop the gold standard for private sector climate transition plans in the UK. It will inform and build on international disclosure standards. The UK Government and the Financial Conduct Authority are actively involved and will draw on the TPT’s outputs to strengthen disclosure requirements across the UK economy.
The Disclosure Framework and Implementation Guidance are open for public consultation until 28 February 2023.
IPCC factsheets released
Temperatures will rise in all European areas, alongside the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, including marine heatwaves, it was reported in factsheets produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. Other high-level key messages noted in the factsheet for Europe included sea-level rise in all European areas except the Baltic Sea, and an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme sea-level events, leading to more coastal flooding. There are factsheets for regions and for specific sectors, from agriculture to water resources management.
Compliance manager fastest growing ‘green job’
LinkedIn Economic Graph has published a new report into the skills needed for the world’s economies to address the threat of climate change. The Global Green Skills Report 2022 provides new data on green skills and jobs from all across the world. Among the fastest growing green jobs identified between 2016 and 2021 is ‘Sustainability Manager’, which saw an annual growth of 30 percent, and ‘Compliance Manager’ which grew by 19 percent.
- EFRAG submitted first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to the European Commission.
- Accountancy Europe published some FAQs on key changes that Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will bring.
- The UK Financial Conduct Authority announced the formation of a group to develop a Code of Conduct for ESG data and ratings providers.
- The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) in collaboration with EY published ‘ESG and the Role of Compliance’ on how compliance functions can support firms managing regulatory ESG-related risks.
Resources
- Podcast: The Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency, Laura Burke, speaks to Daniel Murray (5 Degrees of Change)
- Tool: Climate TRACE Coalition is new independent inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. Launched at COP27, Trace combines satellite data and AI to show the facility-level carbon and methane emissions of over 70,000 sites around the world, including companies in China, the United States and India.
- Article: SustainabilityWorks – Scaling the Solution
Upcoming events
- Webinar - Chartered Accountants Ireland Ulster Society - The Sustainability Journey - Responsibilities, Strategy and Reporting' (28 November)
- Biodiversity COP15 Part 2, 7-19 December
You can find information, guidance and supports to understand sustainability and meet the challenges it presents in our online Sustainability Centre.
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