Introducing: The Green Team Network

The Green Team Network

The Green Team Network is an industry initiative arising from Irish Funds Grant Thornton Sustainathon 2020. It aims to provide a central forum for industry members and to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration regarding addressing sustainability goals across companies within the Irish funds industry.

This network will be a place for industry participants to pool their ideas, resources and campaigns, resulting in savings on time, effort and cost across the industry. Acknowledging that all firms and individuals are different and at varying stages of addressing sustainability, the Green Team Network is all-inclusive and aims to raise everyone’s game – from the organisation well advanced in its journey to those that require additional support to get started.

As the network expands and the collective communication and conversation begins, we hope that together we can use our influence for even more impactful change as the industry grows.

Our Journey

Sustainathon 2020 was an initiative put together by Irish Funds and Grant Thornton in the form of a competition to help the Irish Funds Industry as a collective play its part in tackling climate change. This initiative involved entrants from across The Irish Funds Industry working together to identify and propose solutions to the sustainability agenda. The proposed solutions could relate to product innovations, new platforms for engagement, corporate initiatives, use of technologies, or other ideas.

The initiative was centred around the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and the impact the Funds Industry could make towards achieving these goals. Participants were asked to identify and assess achievable and impactful measures that the Funds Industry could implement, to help realise these goals. In 2020, the focus was on Goals 7 and 13: Affordable and Clean Energy, and Climate Action.

The original team, consisting of Aedín O’Leary, Suzanne Senior and Magdalena Supernat, saw Sustainathon as an opportunity to learn more about sustainability, to connect with people in this space and to make further impact. With the help of a mentor, Shona O’Hea from Grant Thornton, they brainstormed, carried out market research and developed the 'Green Team Network' concept which, following a final Dragons Den style pitch, was ultimately selected as the winner.

The result today is a dedicated Steering Committee representing 16 member firms who have worked collaboratively to get the Green Team Network off the ground.

The Green Team Challenge

The Green Team Network went live in March with the launch of the “Green Team Challenge” via LinkedIn. The challenge asked members of the Irish Funds industry to choose a climate conscious action, to commit to it publicly on LinkedIn and to pass on the challenge to Think Green / Act Green by nominating connections across the industry.

To date the challenge has been taken up by c.100 individuals representing over 50 firms creating a ripple effect across the industry. The strong response to the Green Team Challenge is indicative of what the industry can achieve when we come together to support and inspire each other to tackle climate change.

Our Vision - The Green Pledge

A long term goal of the Green Team Network is the development of the The Green Pledge – a tool to encourage visibility and accountability within the Irish Funds Industry. The Green Pledge will outline a selection of environmentally sustainable actions to which corporates can commit to help reduce their impact on the environment and ultimately reduce their Carbon Footprint. It will cover a range of categories such as policy and education, working remotely and sustainable communications to name a few.

By signing up to the Green Pledge, Irish Funds industry firms will be externally demonstrating their commitment to tackling environmental issues by making impactful changes and leading by example. We hope to pilot the Green Pledge with an initial cohort of firms in H1 2021.

Join Us

The Green Team Network looks forward to bringing you further news and resources in the form of educational content, thought leadership, joint initiatives, webinars and other networking opportunities in the months ahead.

We encourage your active engagement by:

• viewing our dedicated website https://www.greenteamnetwork.ie/

• following our LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-team-network

• connecting with us at the upcoming Irish Funds Global Funds Conference

• subscribing to our mailing list for future updates.