Over 50 of the largest companies in Ireland, which have publicly committed to cut their carbon footprint by 50% between now and 2030, have reported on their progress.
The findings published on World Environment Day, show that the average emissions reductions across the companies have increased from 36% in the inaugural report to 41% in 2019.
The report reveals that 73% of companies reduced their carbon emissions from electricity usage.
Business in the Community Ireland, the national network for sustainability, created the Low Carbon Pledge in 2018, to encourage companies to commit to reducing their carbon footprint and develop a credible roadmap towards a net zero economy.
For the second year running, BITCI partnered with PwC to produce the Low Carbon Pledge report, which details the progress of 55 companies, across 10 different sectors.
The six companies in the energy and utilities sector have the largest carbon footprint, accounting for 93% of total scope 1 and 2 emissions.
29 companies provided data relating to scope 3 emissions from business travel, waste generation, and water consumption.
Of those companies, carbon emissions linked to business travel accounted for 91% of scope 3 emissions in 2019. The report states that all pledge companies will report on these aspects in next year’s report.
The Minister for Communications, Climate Action & Environment, Richard Bruton has welcomed the report.
"There has been an almost 25% increase in BITCI members signing up to the pledge. It is the pioneers who lead by example that are pivotal to inspiring and influencing others. We need to continue to expand the network and encourage more enterprises to commit and innovate. The commitment to improve measurement and reporting practices by BITCI members is a crucial step," he said.
The report also includes case studies highlighting some of the key actions companies are taking in order to drive their emissions reductions efforts. The companies are Arup, Musgrave, RTÉ and SSE.
