Climate change is a key decider for consumers, a Clare held seminar hears

IMPACTING climate change is now revealed to be a deciding factor for over 60% of Irish consumers, a recent seminar hosted by Shannon Chamber hears.

The purpose of the seminar, which was held in Ei Electronics’ Centre of Excellence in Shannon, was to brief companies on the rationale for focusing on sustainability and integrating eco conscious decisions into their operations.  

It was revealed that 63% of shoppers base their purchase decisions on whether or not they will impact climate change when buying. 

The seminar had Analog Devices and Heraeus Precious Metals give insight as to what they are doing to attain net zero - the best rate of sustainability practices. 

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“Investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders are now looking beyond just financial performance and demanding greater transparency and accountability in businesses' environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance,” Climeaction’s Paul Murphy, a guest speaker at the seminar, said.

“Start by understanding your company’s carbon footprint, then use this baseline to develop a list of opportunities for improvement - then set goals and develop a practical strategy to achieve your goals for emissions’ reduction, cost savings and improvement in your overall ESG performance. 

“Identify the capacity within your company to deliver this strategy,”  Climeaction’s Paul Murphy and Annie Duffy advised at the event. 

Advising attendees to put structures and systems in place and to do simple, small things well, sustainability expert, Elaine O’Connell, emphasised the importance of getting buy-in from the highest level within an organisation.

“Sustainability must come from the top down,” she said, adding that Analog’s sustainability team comprises representatives from all departments across the organisation.

“Attaining net zero by 2050 may seem ambitious but if you get the decision makers around the table, a lot can be achieved. Start with energy efficiencies. This is one way to act fast and to see the payback on energy saved,” Ms O’Connell added.

Now in year five of its sustainability journey and aiming to be the first precious metals company to be carbon neutral in 2025, Heraeus Precious Metals Shannon’s managing director Douglas Joy and his team outlined the steps the company is taking to meet this target.

“We undertake sustainability walks throughout the plant to brainstorm sustainability ideas, as well as facilitating the sharing of ideas and information about sustainability to ensure that every global Heraeus Precious Metals’ employee has at least one sustainability key performance indicator (KPI) linked to his/her bonus,” he said.