More than 40 leading companies here have signed up to significantly reduce their carbon emissions between now and 2030.
The pledge was made today at a summit organised by Business in the Community in Ireland, which describes itself as a network for sustainability.
The 43 companies include retail, manufacturing, agri-food, professional services, banks, transport and ICT businesses.
Business in the Community Ireland CEO Tomás Sercovich said today marked the first time that Irish businesses have made a dedicated pledge to reduce carbon emissions.
"According to the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, we have just 12 years to make a fundamental transformation to a low carbon economy so business has a vital role to play," Mr Sercovich said.
Under the terms of the pledge, the companies have committed to reducing both Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emission intensity.
Scope 1 emissions are the greenhouse gases produced directly from sources that are owned and controlled by the company, such as fuels used in vehicles, boilers and furnaces. Scope 2 emissions relate to indirect greenhouse gases from the purchase of electricity.
Meanwhile, four new companies achieved the Business Working Responsibly mark - the only independently audited standard for sustainability - at today's event.
The four new organisations are BT Ireland, the Central Bank, Heineken Ireland and Hovione Ireland.
A further seven were recertified to the standard - Boots Retail (Ireland), CRH Ireland, Deloitte Ireland, ESB, Gas Networks Ireland, Intel Ireland and KBC Bank Ireland.
