An Post lauded for environmental and social leadership at 2023 Business & Finance ESG Awards

Business leaders from across the country gathered at the Mansion House in Dublin earlier today, for the 2023 Business & Finance ESG Awards. Over 300 attendees turned out for the event and gala luncheon, which aims to recognise and celebrate individuals and groups actively striving to address environmental, social and governance issues. With 14 categories, the Awards showcase the accomplishments of ESG initiatives across all sectors.

Among the winners was An Post, which won the ESG Company Awards (Enterprise) as well as the overall ESG Grand Prix award; Dublin Bus took the Biodiversity Award in recognition of its efforts to help grow Dublin’s bee population with new hives in its depots. The Social Responsibility Project Award was won by SSE Airtricity and the ESG Investment Award was won by Aviva, while Luke Deasy of Copper Coast Renewable was named ESG Future Leader. Meanwhile, Iseult Ward, Founder and CEO of FoodCloud, received the special recognition ESG Leader Award for her work connecting charities and communities where they are needed most. (*For the full list of winners, please see below).

Iseult is co-founder and CEO of the award-winning social enterprise FoodCloud, which redistributes large quantities of surplus food across Ireland. The platform also connects food businesses directly to local charities. Working with over 600 Irish charities, an average of 2,200 tonnes is rescued annually with an estimated value of €6.7m.

Iseult has a history of inspirational leadership. In 2017 she was included on Forbes’ 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs European list and is a deserving recipient of the ESG Leader Award.

Growing climate change concerns, the increasing importance of sustainability, the rising cost of living, the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices mean increasing numbers of businesses are recognising the need to adopt ESG as an element of company policy. With this in mind, the awards were established to commend and encourage companies to become more ESG-aware by recognising those who are surpassing expectations and setting a high standard for all.

The judging panel for the 2023 ESG Awards includes notable business leaders such as Kathy Ryan, Head of Responsible Investment, Irish Life, Tomas Sercovich, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland, and Jackie King, Executive Director of International Business, Ibec.

Speaking at this afternoon’s ceremony in The Round Room at Dublin’s Mansion House, Tracey Carney, Managing Director, ESG Awards, congratulated the winners:

“The entries for the second annual ESG Awards set the bar even higher than the inaugural event in 2022. Every company nominated has displayed truly impressive credentials across the board, reflecting the high level of importance placed on ESG standards across policy, production and everything in between. We congratulate all of the winners, and we look forward to seeing further progress in their companies and in Ireland’s wider business community.”

Accepting the ESG Leader Award, FoodCloud founder Iseult Ward said: “It is a huge honour to win this ESG Special Recognition Award. FoodCloud has been focused on creating a positive social and environmental impact since we started 10 years ago by rescuing surplus food. Today, the equivalent of more than 200 million meals has been donated to community organisations across four countries, a reduction of 270,600 CO2 Eq. We can only achieve this level of impact working with a significant number of businesses and community partners who also recognise the increasing importance of ESG. I would like to thank the Business & Finance team for this award and recognition of our global community committed to tackling food waste and food insecurity.”

See more stories here.