Bord na Móna CEO Gabriel D’Arcy has called for a new national focus on the potential benefits of Ireland’s green economy. Chairing the ‘Hack the Green Economy’ event today, CEO Gabriel D’Arcy said “With its considerable wave and wind resources, Ireland has significant natural advantages when it comes to developing a green economy. We need to seriously examine the potentially huge and sustainable benefits that can accrue if we chose to properly develop these assets within a new green economy for Ireland. Before this can happen however there has to be a public debate on what needs to be done and for this to happen we will require strong political leadership. Public engagement, backed by honest politics, does bring real change, as evidenced by the sea-changes which took place to make drinking and driving, and smoking in pubs socially unacceptable.
We believe an effective climate law will be a cornerstone of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable recovery. It will position Ireland as a hub for green enterprise, investment and innovation. It will give businesses and householders the certainty they need to invest in low-carbon technologies, confident that Government policies to reduce emissions will mean they save or make money in the medium term.“
Organised by Business in the Community , the ‘Hack the Green Economy’ event examined some of the next steps on the road to a green economy, in particular future developments in the area of integrated sustainability reporting and future environmental legislation.
Bord na Móna launched its sustainable business strategy, ‘A new Contract with Nature’, in 2008. The strategy was introduced to inform sustainable business practices across all divisions and subsidiary companies in the group. The company recently won a coveted Green Award for implementing a sustainable supply system that involves 377 separate business suppliers. The company beat off competition from some of the world’s biggest corporations including Dell, Symantec and IBM to win the prestigious Green Award.
Today’s event come after last weeks high level report from the Environmental Protection Agency, that praised the company’s conservation initiatives, on rewetting cutaway bogs. The report said Bord na Móna’s activity in this area was providing a range of climate, biodiversity, water quality and economic benefits.
Source: HortiTrends News Desk
