GAP’s international Climate Challenge for business mobilises 2,900 people
During the Irish Funds Global Funds Conference, taking place on 23 May in Dublin, 12 exceptional teams and a number of individuals from funds and asset management companies were celebrated for their remarkable efforts in reducing their carbon footprint.
Engaging over 2,900 employees across 29 teams, the 2024 Irish Funds Climate Challenge (now in its second year) was organised by the Green Team Network in partnership with Global Action Plan Ireland.
“This year’s Funds Industry Climate Challenge exceeded all expectations Over a 2 week period and with participation spanning 29 organisations across 3 continents, our dedicated participants saved a staggering 280 tonnes of CO2e emissions. That’s equivalent to circumnavigating the globe by airplane 28 times,” said Aedín O’Leary, Co-Founder of the Green Team Network.
The Challenge aimed to inspire and educate participants, highlighting the significance of small, actionable steps in reducing their carbon footprints both at work and at home. Winners were determined based on their collective efforts in implementing climate-smart practices.
L-R: Hans Zomer (Global Action Plan Ireland), Terence Tinnelly (Innocap), Jack Lee (MUFG Investor Services), Aedín O’Leary (Green Team Network)
The 2024 Funds Industry Climate Challenge awards went to:
● Overall Winner: Innocap
● Winners, “Service Provider” category: The Panel (1st) and MUFG Investor Services (2nd)
● Winners, “Professional Services” category: Kroll (1st) and the Climate Collaborators (2nd) – a team composed primarily of Independent Non-Executive Directors and representatives from basis.point and Earthology.
● Winners, “Manager” category: BlackRock (1st) and Gemini Capital (2nd)
An additional award was given to Mercer for having the highest engagement rate among employees based on the total number of employees that could participate in the challenge. Also, Adrienn Illes (Irish Funds), Aoife Kearney (Neuberger Berman), Mina Dawood (L K Shields) and Suzanne Cashin (Climate Collaborators) each received the “Climate Champion Award” for their active engagement and participation in the competition.
The 2024 Funds Industry Climate Challenge invited teams from across the funds industry to compete against each other to save the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
“The sector-wide collaboration in the Funds Industry Climate Challenge underscores the industry’s commitment to sustainability and empowers employees to drive meaningful change. Together, they’ve demonstrated that individual actions can yield substantial environmental benefits,” said Hans Zomer, CEO of Global Action Plan Ireland, the charity organising the competition in partnership with the Green Team Network.
Participants logged their climate-smart actions on a digital platform, focusing on key emission areas such as goods and services, food, energy, and transport. Each activity was tracked and converted into greenhouse gas emission savings, providing participants with valuable insights into their contributions towards climate action.
“The Funds Industry Climate Challenge is a unique way to highlight the effectiveness of individual climate action. We are encouraged by the fact that so many companies in the sector want to support their staff with knowledge and opportunities to learn more about the many ways in which we can take action to reduce our impact on the climate,” added Suzanne Senior from the Green Team Network.
These beautiful awards were designed by the Rediscover Furniture team at The Rediscovery Centre, Ballymun – the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland. They were made from solid mahogany counter tops salvaged from the old Dublin City Council labs in Poolbeg and oak rescued from a 100 year old French dresser.
The 2024 Irish Funds Industry Climate Challenge ran from 22 April to May 6 2024, and was part of the sector’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and empowering employees to take action on climate change.