Green issues now at board level: Ryan

ENERGY minister Eamon Ryan says Irish companies have come into line with their international counterparts in prioritising green issues.

More than 70% of those taking part in the inaugural Irish Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) survey said they now assign board level responsibility to address climate change business risks and opportunities.

Speaking at yesterday’s launch of the first Irish survey to be undertaken by CDP, Mr Ryan said: “The economy of the future is green, and those businesses that follow a sustainable path, will be guaranteed opportunities and success.

“Energy awareness makes sense, not only for the environment, but for the bottom line. Irish companies are joining their international counterparts and placing low carbon economics high on the agenda. There is an emerging business culture where environmental matters are seen by the entire board as being fundamental to future viability and profitability. CDP helps demonstrate the commercial imperative of prioritising environmental matters and shows that many of the world’s most successful businesses see the environment as fundamental to their future,” said KPMG Ireland managing partner Terence O’Rourke.

Vodafone Ireland chief executive Charles Butterworth said climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our future. “It is extremely important for business to disclose information about carbon emissions for Ireland to become a world leading carbon economy,” he said.

CDP is a global non-profit organisation which encourages private and public sector organisations to measure and report carbon emissions and climate change impact. Participants in the first Irish CDP survey also included the likes of Diageo Ireland, ESB, AIB, Tesco Ireland and Smurfit Kappa.