Helping Businesses Be Sustainable And Thrive With Tomás Sercovich

With Tomás Sercovich, CEO Business in the Community Ireland

Tell us about Business in the Community Ireland and its purpose?

We have been around since 2000 and have been driving the sustainability agenda in Ireland with business. Ultimately we believe in better business for a better Ireland. We help businesses thrive, be profitable but also be sustainable and have a positive impact on society and the environment. We now have over 90 of the largest companies in Ireland and have seen such a swell of interest in the topic in recent years, markedly so in the past 12 months so it’s fantastic.

You created the Low Carbon Pledge and today you launched the first benchmark report in association with PwC. What were the key findings?

We encouraged 47 companies in our network to make the Low Carbon Pledge last year to act as a starting point in which companies can measure their efforts annually at cutting their carbon footprint and collectively make a public statement on their commitment to addressing climate change. The PwC report on the pledge states that the companies are making significant progress towards achieving the target decrease in carbon intensity by 2030. The average emissions intensity reductions across the pledge companies were 36%. Because of this initial significant intensity reductions over the baseline period to 2018, we will focus on upping the scope and ambition of the 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets

What more does business need to do in order to transition to a low carbon economy?

Climate change is a reality and not a future-looking risk to be mitigated. Now that we have the data and concrete evidence, we have a strong mandate to mobilise more companies to make the pledge and raise their ambition towards decarbonisation. Investing in low carbon initiatives and engaging broadly in dialogue with policy makers, suppliers, employees and local communities will be critical to enable this transition to be successful.

What is the role of technology in this space?

Technology will be a fundamental enabler of the transition to the low carbon economy. The Internet of Things will facilitate data for better decision-making in almost every single industry and this will allow emissions to be reduced. From remote working to sensors to manage crops or systems to improve traffic flows in cities, the solutions are endless. Technology companies are making this shift and it is indeed about new and exciting business opportunities.

What are your top tips to businesses in Ireland on how to play their part in cutting their carbon emissions?

Every company regardless of size should first of all measure their carbon emissions, set targets and constantly review and evaluate. The real power of the pledge resides behind the numbers, it’s the importance of learning from other companies and sharing knowledge. Don’t forget as well to engage your employees and suppliers in the area. People want leadership when it comes to tackling the climate crisis we face so business must show leadership.

Finally, what next for the Low Carbon Pledge?

We have made a great start but there have been some easy wins such as switching to green energy and so on. The real challenge is maintaining these reduction targets, pushing companies to do more and be more urgent in our actions. Ultimately we want to get lots more of our companies in the network to sign up and start reporting.

How can people find out more about you & your work?

We have a great website at www.bitc.ie and its full of case studies around all areas of sustainability so worth a look

Or contact me personally on Twitter https://twitter.com/TomasSercovich

Or on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom%C3%A1s-sercovich-176bb19/

Anything else you’d like to add / we should have asked?

The science is clear on the need to adopt radical and unprecedented change. This means we need to share a common vision of what a low carbon economy should look like. Regulation has a key role to play, for example through incentives for clean energy or a reasonable price of carbon that will mobilise concrete action from companies. The investment community needs to drive the change by investing in more energy efficient and climate resilient companies. We all need to revisit our lifestyles and consider what we need to do personally to make this change happen.

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