Dear ,

Welcome to the inaugural Dublin Chamber Enterprise Europe Network Sustainability newsletter, this monthly newsletter aims to keep you up to date with the latest news in sustainability, from both an Irish and European perspective.

This newsletter will also address critical topics and challenges facing Irish businesses as they transition to a more sustainable business model, and the various supports available from Dublin Chamber to assist with this.

We are interested to hear any feedback you may have on the content and indeed any future content you would like to see. To leave your feedback on the sustainability newsletter please email: maria@dublinchamber.ie.

The Dublin Chamber Team

The Dublin Chamber Sustainability Academy sponsored by AIB is a skills initiative with one goal - to help firms become environmentally sustainable and as a result become more competitive, resilient and successful.

Our online short courses were developed to help you learn your business sustainability 'Why'. Through these courses, we provide you with the tools and knowledge to make impactful change while also growing your business and reputation.

May's upcoming workshop on Carbon Footprint Management will enable you to understand the core principles of Carbon Footprinting. You will learn how to measure and report the impacts of your operation and how to take action. 

For more information and to book, click here. 

“When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” In 2022, Benjamin Franklin’s words have never been more meaningful.

As a global society, we’ve known for a long time that the way we live and do business simply isn’t sustainable. Many of us remember being told in school that fossil fuels were finite and that the planet was getting warmer but it seemed a ‘faraway problem’ then. Today we know that this isn’t the case. However, human nature means we can feel inclined to avoid uncomfortable truths - we prefer to avoid the ‘faraway problems’ - or in commerce, we avoid what we perceive to be a threat to how we are used to doing business.

In a 2021 survey commissioned by Dublin Chamber with Amárach Research, we learned that 75% of Irish organisations are less than halfway into their journey of becoming more sustainable, with 36% saying that some steps had been taken but that there was a long way to go. The survey also told us that 70% of respondents did not have a strategy for environmental, social and governance reporting (ESG).

Read the full article here.

Like many Dublin Chamber members, AIB has committed to reducing the carbon emissions from our own operations to net zero by 2030. This is just one of many steps the bank is taking to support Ireland’s transition to a low carbon future.  

We will all have to play our part in reducing our carbon emissions to net zero. At AIB we are leading by example and were the first Irish bank to pledge to operate as carbon neutral by 2030, using a “net zero’’ approach. That means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible - through elimination of carbon rather than offsetting it.  Within our own operations we are making steady progress and have reduced our own emissions by 40% since 2014 and a 19% reduction on 2021 versus 2020 alone.

The Circular Economy Bill, which has been published by the government, will underpin Ireland’s shift from a “take-make-waste” linear model to a more sustainable pattern of production and consumption that will instead minimise waste to help significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

In a circular economy, waste and resource use are minimised. The use and value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible. When a product has reached the end of its life its parts are used again and again – to create further useful products, instead of being discarded which is an all too familiar pattern now.

The Circular Economy Bill:

• Defines the Circular Economy for the first time in Irish domestic law
• Incentivises the use of reusable and recyclable alternatives to a range of wasteful single-use disposable packaging and other items
• Re-designates the existing Environment Fund as a Circular Economy Fund, which will remain ring-fenced to provide support for environmental and circular economy projects

EU Green Week 2022 will take place from 30 May to 5 June 2022

EU Green Week is an annual opportunity to debate European environmental policy with policymakers, leading environmentalists and stakeholders from Europe and beyond. This year's edition focuses on the European Green Deal - the EU’s sustainable and transformative growth strategy for a resource-efficient and climate-neutral Europe by 2050.

The Green Week hybrid conference opens on 30 May with a high-level debate on what happens to the EU environmental policy in times of crisis. The following day, three important aspects of the transformation – circular economy, zero pollution, and biodiversity, will be in the spotlight. Throughout the week, partner events will be taking place across Europe and beyond.

The registration is now open. If you wish to attend the EU Green Week 2022 conference, please complete the registration form below.

Geneva, 9 May 2022 (WMO) - There is a 50:50 chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial level for at least one of the next five years – and the likelihood is increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

There is a 93% likelihood of at least one year between 2022-2026 becoming the warmest on record and dislodging 2016 from the top ranking. The chance of the five-year average for 2022-2026 being higher than the last five years (2017-2021) is also 93%, according to the Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, produced by the United Kingdom’s Met Office, the WMO lead centre for such predictions.

FANBEST is an EU funded Blue Economy Programme aimed to foster the technology transfer to SMEs in blue biotechnology and exploitation of marine resources by creating a network of public and private entities focused on the fundraising that makes possible the start and scale-up phase.

The internationalisation programme is focused on businesses within the Blue Economy sectors (aquaculture, blue biotechnology, use of marine resources, coastal tourism, marine renewable energy, etc.) looking to expand globally. The programme will select up to 5 businesses across the European Atlantic Area which will receive up to 10,000 EUR worth of support to help them grow global. The support will include strategy planning, export readiness assessment, market research and identification, all leading to a tailored market visits to their identified market.

This is a great opportunity for SMEs from across the European Atlantic Area looking to get their businesses to the next stage.

More information about the eligibility requirements and how to apply can be found here.

Applications are open until 27th May midnight.

Dublin Chamber in partnership with Amárach Research will be launching our 2022 Sustainability Survey. The survey will assess companies' needs and requirements around sustainability. The survey will also influence upcoming policies in the Chamber.   

Once the survey is launched we will be asking businesses to complete the survey and have their say. Watch this space!