Sustainability/ESG bulletin from Chartered Accountants Ireland, 20 December 2024
Susan Rossney
Sustainability Advocacy Manager with Chartered Accountants Ireland | Sustainability Leader | Peaceful Climate Activist
Ireland news
ESRI report finds cooperation in collective climate action key
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has published a research bulletin, How to Encourage Collective Climate Action, including a review of 272 studies on how people behave in collective action problems specifically concerned with climate change. Some of these challenges are ‘multi-level coordination’ (i.e. that local action is needed to achieve national or international goals), uncertainty about which actions will be effective, the fact that consequences of today’s decisions will be most strongly felt by future generations, and the need to overcome psychological biases (e.g., status quo bias – a preference for things to stay as they are, even if the alternative is better). The bulletin recommends showcasing success stories to inspire action, and using multiple, smaller-scale initiatives instead of one large strategy to help foster cooperation by aligning goals with local identities and benefits.
Ireland joins international partnership aimed at promoting sustainable ICT procurement practices
Ireland has entered into a voluntary agreement to co-operate with other bodies, internationally, to improve the sustainability of ICT procurement. The initiative – the Circular and Fair ICT Pact (CFIT) – is an international procurement-led partnership with a remit to accelerate circularity, fairness, and sustainability in the ICT sector. Joining the CFIT Pact fulfils a commitment in Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2027, which aims drive the implementation of green and circular procurement practices across the public sector.
Ireland shows no improvement in recycling rates in 10 years
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland has published the Circular Economy and Waste Statistics Highlights Report 2022, which states that Ireland generated 15.7 million tonnes of waste in 2022. Although a decrease on 2021 figures, this still shows a growth of over 20% in the last decade, with construction activities accounting for half of all waste generated. Ireland is now almost certain to miss EU municipal and packaging recycling targets for 2025.
Europe news
The EU-Mercosur trade
The EU-Mercosur trade deal has been signed by the EU and four Mercosur countries — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – following 25 years of negotiations. While the annex to the trade and sustainable development chapter of the deal commits parties to “prevent further deforestation and enhance efforts to stabilise or increase forest cover from 2030”, trade experts and environmental experts disagree, citing deforestation risks, among other negative impacts.
Cap adopted for 2027 Emissions Trading System for buildings, road transport and small industry (ETS2)
The EU Commission has adopted a decision establishing the EU-wide quantity of allowances issued under Emissions Trading System for buildings, road transport and small industries (ETS2) in 2027. The ETS2 is a new emissions trading system created as part of the 2023 revisions of the ETS Directive. It is separate from the existing EU ETS and will cover and address the CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in buildings, road transport and additional sectors (mainly small industries not covered by the existing EU ETS). This cap will amount to 1,036,288,784 allowances for 2027 and aims to contribute to the EU achieving its 2030 climate targets.
Sustainability reporting for SMEs - update
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has delivered the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-listed SMEs (VSME) to the European Commission. Based on market acceptance, the VSME has been designed to provide a standardised set of information in order to support ESG reporting for SMEs and boost access to finance. In 2025 EFRAG will issue support guides and educational material, among other initiatives.
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Accountancy Europe’s Sustainability update – December
Covered in the recently published December Sustainability update from Accountancy Europe are the EU Taxonomy FAQs on the usability of the EU sustainable finance frameworks; updates on the Green Claims Directive; approval of ESG rating activities regulation; updates on the Deforestation Regulation, and ESMA’s proposal to phase in ESRS digital tagging requirements.
World news
The International Federation of Accountants IFAC and We Mean Business Coalition , in partnership with the Global Accounting Alliance , have published Building Trust in Sustainability Reporting and Preparing for Assurance: Governance and Controls for Sustainability Information. The guide aims to provide a roadmap for organising and enhancing governance and control systems, and outlines steps to align sustainability and financial reporting in terms of quality, timing, and connectivity, and addresses challenges in sustainability reporting. The new guidance can be applied to the adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) nd jurisdictional requirements, including the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
Articles
Podcast
The financial case for sustainability: In this episode of Behind the Numbers from ICEAW, Philippa Lamb is joined by Richard Spencer , ICAEW Director of Sustainability and others to discuss the challenge for accountants in ensuring that the quality of non-financial information matches that of financial information.
New resource – The Business Case for Nature
Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) has published The Business Case for Nature, a guide explaining why nature is vital to business and offering clear steps and practical tips for developing the business case for organisations. The guide is part of the ‘A4S’s nature guidance series’, currently being created to give finance teams the practical guidance and tools to understand their nature-related impacts and dependencies, and to take steps to integrate nature-related risks and opportunities into business strategy and decision-making processes.
Sustainability Centre
Our Sustainability Centre has been updated to include links to sustainability webinars run by Chartered Accountants Ireland on the topic of sustainability.