About

Our Objective

Our targets to halve emissions by 2030 and be climate neutral by 2050 will require a transformation in our economy, society and communities. Irish businesses will play a crucial role in this transition – with huge benefits.

While many businesses have already grasped the opportunities of a decarbonised economy, for some it can be a big challenge. The Toolkit provides a clear and accessible starting point for any business, signposting them to useful climate action resources. Promoting the economic and environmental sustainability of our enterprise base supports our climate targets while continuing to sustain high-quality employment, entrepreneurship and investment in Ireland.

The Toolkit uses the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a guide, with particular emphasis on:

Climate Action

Climate Action

The actions provided by this Toolkit are aimed at improving awareness and knowledge of the impacts of business activities on our climate.

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all in the climate transition.

Affordable and Clean Energy

Affordable and Clean Energy

The Toolkit will assist businesses to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and make the transition to clean energy.

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

By taking climate action, businesses can demonstrate leadership to their customers and communities, and provide innovative low carbon products and services.

Partners
Local Enterprise Offices

The Network of Local Enterprise Offices across the country assist entrepreneurs, start-ups and existing small businesses in accessing financial, training and expert mentoring supports. The 31 Local Enterprise Offices, located in every county in Ireland, provide the expertise to help small businesses to get off the ground and to work with them to grow and expand.

Find out more Local Enterprise Offices
Enterprise Ireland

Enterprise Ireland is the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. They work in partnership with Irish enterprises to help them start, grow, innovate and win export sales in global markets. In this way, they support sustainable economic growth, regional development and secure employment.

Find out more Enterprise Ireland
IDA Ireland

IDA Ireland performs an important role in Ireland's relationship with foreign investors, with multinationals accounting for about 10% of national employment. The agency partners with investors to help them to begin or expand their operations in the Irish market. IDA Ireland provides funding, such as employment, training, environmental and R&D grants, to support new investments.

Find out more IDA Ireland
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)

The SEAI works with householders, businesses, communities and government to create a cleaner energy future. Its vision is for Ireland’s energy to be sustainable, secure, affordable, and clean. To achieve this, Ireland must use less energy, move to clean energy, and innovate to create new solutions to meet our energy needs.

Find out more Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)
Skillnet Ireland

Skillnet Ireland is a business support agency with a mandate to advance the competitiveness, productivity, and innovation of Irish businesses through enterprise-led workforce development.

Find out more Skillnet Ireland
Ibec

Ibec is Ireland’s largest business representative group, seeking to build a better, sustainable future by influencing and delivering for business success. As well as advocating for the interests of businesses in Ireland, Ibec provides a wide range of professional services and management training to members on all aspects of human resource management, occupational health and safety, employee relations and employment law.

Find out more Ibec
Chambers Ireland

Chambers Ireland is Ireland’s largest business organisation with a network of Chambers of Commerce in every major town and region in the country. It facilitates the growth and development of the Irish chamber network and enables chambers to effectively promote the long term development of their locality as well as working towards creating a better environment for business through engagement on key policy issues.

Find out more Chambers Ireland
Irish Water (Irish: Uisce Éireann)

Uisce Éireann is a water utility company in Ireland. The company was created by the Government to provide safe, clean and affordable water and waste water services to business and residential water users in Ireland.

Find out more Irish Water (Irish: Uisce Éireann)
EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting and improving the environment as a valuable asset for the people of Ireland. It plays key roles in environmental regulation and provision of knowledge and advocacy for the environment. It provides environmental data, assessments and evidence to inform decision making and implements effective regulation and environmental compliance systems – working with others to advocate for a clean, healthy and well protected environment and sustainable environmental behaviour.

Find out more EPA
Fáilte Ireland

As the National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland’s role is to support the long-term sustainable growth in the economic, social, cultural and environmental contribution of tourism to Ireland.

Find out more Fáilte Ireland
The Carbon Calculator

The carbon calculator provided as part of this Toolkit is designed to give a simple and easy-to-use carbon assessment for most businesses. The calculator provides an estimation only, but gives a good initial understanding of where emissions arise in your business operations. The ‘calculator logic’ link below gives a full description of the carbon intensity, fuel price, travel and other assumptions that the calculator uses to provide you with an estimation of your emissions.
It is important to note that the calculator only estimates ‘direct’ emissions from energy use on-site, water use on-site, waste produced and some travel. The calculator does not attempt to measure emissions related to either the supply chain of a business or the customer’s impact in using a product or service – in some sectors these emissions are likely to be many times the direct emissions of a business. In order to get a full and detailed assessment of your emissions, a full energy and carbon audit is recommended.

Climate Toolkit 4 Business

The Climate Toolkit 4 Business was developed with support from the Public Service Innovation Fund.
Our Public Service - Funding