Being a Responsible Business
Climate, sustainability and responsible business practices are being embedded across our day-to-day operations. We also publicly report on our sustainability performance.
Our Aims
Climate and energy policy is at the heart of the EirGrid Group Strategy. We have established good governance structures with a focus on climate and sustainability.
Our aims under this pillar are to:
- Further embed sustainability into governance, decisions and delivery across the business
- Manage and reduce our own carbon footprint
- Achieve the highest ethical standards
- Increase transparency on our non-financial performance
External Recognition
Business Working Responsibly (BWR) Mark
The BWR Mark is the leading standard for sustainability in Ireland. BWR is independently audited and is based on ISO 26000.
EirGrid Group recertified to the BWR Mark in 2022.
NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey
SONI received a silver rating for participation in the BITCNI Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey 2022.
Awards
EirGrid won the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI) ‘Good Practice of the Year’ award in the Communication and Engagement Category. This was for our stakeholder consultation around the Shaping Our Electricity Future roadmap.
SONI also received recognition for Shaping Our Electricity Future. We were shortlisted for the inaugural Climate Action Award in the BITCNI Responsible Business Awards (NI) 2022.
Employee Engagement
Travel Initiatives
In 2021-22, we partnered with the National Transport Authority’s TFI Smarter Travel for Workplaces. This is a national voluntary programme to promote sustainable commuting to work.
In support of this, we ran an employee commuting survey for EirGrid Group employees. The survey helped us to understand our current commuting patterns and the potential for more sustainable alternatives. The results of this survey informed our science based targets annual carbon footprint assessment.
Health, Safety & Environment
We operate a Health, Safety & Environmental (HS&E) Management System. This is based on the requirements of both the:
- International Occupational Health & Safety Standard, ISO45001:2018
- Environmental Management Standard ISO14001:2015
Science-Based Targets
In 2021, we undertook a carbon footprint assessment across our business. The assessment helped to set emissions reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. These are called science-based targets.
We validated our targets with the Science Based Targets initiative in March 2022. This made EirGrid the first public body in Ireland to achieve validated science-based targets.
Sustainable Procurement
In 2021, EirGrid Group undertook a sustainable procurement assessment. The assessment evaluated our approach against the international standard for sustainable procurement, ISO 20400. We used this to set social and environmental metrics and KPIs for our procurement processes.
In 2021-22, EirGrid Group updated our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement. This sets out the steps taken to ensure modern slavery and human trafficking are absent from our supply chains.
Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures
We report against the three pillars of our sustainability strategy, including Science Based Targets.
We currently report under the Commercial Semi-State Climate Action Framework and in future, we will report under the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).