Painted on the wall inside organic bakery Bread 41′s premises is a mural depicting the words “No Planet B” – a constant reminder of its mission to build a sustainable model. Based in Dublin’s Pearse Street and led by owner Eoin Cluskey and chief executive Stephen McKenna, the company is moving towards opening further locations and striving to become a fully zero-waste business.
The company is implementing environmental management systems including a recently installed biodigester reducing all food waste to compost and a solar installation to generate energy, along with a seasonal ethically-made and locally-grown menu.
Bread 41 provides reusable cups five days a week and has managed to save around 24,000 cups that would otherwise be heading to landfill. This also resulted in savings of thousands of euro on disposable cups, contradicting the stereotype that sustainability dents profits.
Another recent initiative run in conjunction with Trinity start-up Givedish, sees Bread 41 donate a meal to charity for every brunch meal bought by a customer. The firm is also working on providing bread to breakfast clubs for inner city schoolchildren.
“Our purpose is to get everyone back to eating real bread and to appreciate real handcrafted pastries, amazing seasonal food and to drive exceptional hospitality in a sustainable way,” says Cluskey.
The company is working closely with AIB on financing its future expansion plans, and McKenna will be speaking at the AIB Sustainability conference on October 17th.
For its part, AIB launched its Sustainable Lending Framework in 2021. This outlines clear criteria by which the bank will report its green, transition and social lending. There are also some sectors which AIB will not lend to because of their negative impact on the environment or on wider society. These come under the bank’s excluded activities policy and include natural gas fracking, and onshore and offshore exploration of coal or oil.
AIB recently joined the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland’s Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme (EELS). Some €70 million will be made available through this low-cost loan scheme which is designed to help eligible SMEs and farmers cut their energy bills and reduce their carbon emissions by investing in energy-saving measures. Under the scheme SMEs and farmers benefit from lower interest rates and finance from €10,000 to €150,000 over terms of up to 10 years.
The bank has also introduced an Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) questionnaire for borrowers in sectors more exposed to climate risk to help them assess their exposure and take steps to future-proof their business.
And in May AIB and Foresight Group announced a new SME equity fund aiming to raise €75 million. The bank is providing €30 million to the AIB Foresight SME Impact Fund, which will back businesses helping to accelerate Ireland’s transition towards a low-carbon economy.
“To ensure a greener tomorrow we need to take action today,” says Cathy Bryce, managing director AIB Capital Markets. “That’s why AIB offers supports for our business customers and the wider economy to facilitate the transition to net zero. We have an ambition for 70 per cent of our new lending to be green or transition by 2030 and have a target to achieve net zero in our financed emissions by 2040 for our full lending portfolio, 2050 when agriculture is included.”
AIB has doubled its Climate Action Fund to €10 billion over five years, and is offering discounted loans to customers who are meeting or exceeding environmental standards, she adds. “Meanwhile our new lending for energy, climate and infrastructure increased by approximately 39 per cent last year, and is the fastest growing part of our overall loan book. Doing good for the environment is also good for business, and AIB will do more to back businesses who are putting the planet first.
“We stand in solidarity with our customers as they seek to build a lower carbon future,” Bryce concludes. “That’s why we offer discounted loans through the Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme and to developers who meet the Irish Green Building Council’s higher building standards. We are delighted, but not surprised, with the uptake from developers. Those we work with are eager to play their part in sustainable development and standards. To date there are over 560 units which are being built to these requirements, with an additional 600 in the pipeline.”