Ifac marks milestone with inaugural Sustainability Report

As Climate Finance Week Ireland (24th –28th November 2025) shines a spotlight on sustainable business transformation, ifac is proud to launch its first-ever Sustainability Report - a milestone in our ongoing commitment to building a resilient, responsible future for Irish business.

Sustainability is no longer a “nice to have”, it’s a strategic imperative for Irish businesses. Ifac has undertaken this voluntary, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)-aligned report as an important step toward our sustainable future. While the CSRD framework has experienced a turbulent and uncertain year, we believe that reporting our impact across the environmental, social, and governance pillars is essential to meaningful progress. This inaugural report establishes a formal baseline from which we will set and measure our future targets.

As a B Corp, we are committed to improving our operations transparently, sharing where we are performing well and identifying the areas where we need to push further. By openly documenting our journey, we hope to support others on theirs, particularly in navigating uncertainty while still using the structure of the original CSRD legislation as a valuable template.

By integrating sustainability into strategy, businesses can not only mitigate risks such as supply chain volatility, energy exposure, and evolving regulation, but also seize opportunities for innovation, competitiveness, and growth. With 2030 EU and Irish targets fast approaching, ifac’s report offers a roadmap to being informed, compliant, and future-ready.

How to begin your sustainability journey: practical steps, lessons learned and what really matters

Producing a sustainability report for the first time is no small task. It can feel overwhelming, there are new terms to understand, methodologies to interpret, and data points scattered across the organisation. But if there’s one lesson we learned above all else, it’s this: your first report does not need to be perfect. What matters most is that it is honest, factual, and rooted in where you truly are today, not the version of your organisation that looks the best on paper.

Start with the truth, not the ideal

Sustainability reporting is an evolving discipline. Greenhouse gas measurement methodologies can be confusing, emission factors change, data sources shift, and standards are continually updated. This is normal.

What is essential is transparency. Clearly documenting your data sources, your assumptions, and even your uncertainties is the single best investment you can make. When you return to the process next year, and you inevitably find yourself wondering where on earth a particular figure came from, a transparent record will save you countless hours and immeasurable frustration. A sustainability report is a snapshot in time; treat it as a reference point, not a final verdict.

A reporting process that brings people together

Another unexpected lesson was just how collaborative the process became. Sustainability is often viewed as the responsibility of one department, but compiling a CSRD-aligned report showed us the opposite: this work touches everyone.

To build the report, we worked closely with HR, legal, facilities, operations, accounts, procurement, and many more. Each conversation not only improved the accuracy of our reporting but also deepened our understanding of the organisation.

This cross-functional teamwork is more than a reporting requirement; it is the foundation of a truly sustainable workplace. When people understand one another’s roles, they collaborate more naturally, support each other more readily, and move forward as a unified organisation. From that culture, sustainable action grows organically.

What are the first steps to tackling a sustainability report for your business?

Your first sustainability report doesn’t need to be flawless - it needs to be honest.

Start with these steps:

Step 1: Establish your baseline

Collect what data you can, energy use, waste, travel, HR metrics, governance structures. Even if, at first, some numbers are estimated. Just be transparent about sources and assumptions.

Step 2: Choose a recognised framework

ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards), CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), or a sector-specific platform. Using an established structure ensures credibility and gives you a roadmap for improvement.

Step 3: Identify your key internal collaborators

HR, legal, finance, operations, facilities, IT, procurement - they all hold pieces of the puzzle. Early conversations make the process faster and more accurate.

Step 4: Document everything clearly

GHG methodologies change. Emission factors update. Data sources get lost. A transparent record is a gift to your future self when you start all over again next year.

Step 5: Communicate the story, not just the numbers

Explain progress, challenges, and future plans. A sustainability report is not a showcase; it’s a starting point.

How should a business approach double materiality?

Double materiality sounds intimidating, but at its core it asks two simple questions:

How does our organisation impact people and the planet?
How do environmental and social issues financially impact our organisation?

The best approach is to treat it as a structured listening and learning exercise rather than a technical box-ticking requirement.

Start by gathering insights from across the business, HR, operations, finance, facilities, legal, procurement, and leadership. Each team sees different risks and opportunities. Then, assess external expectations: What do your clients care about? What’s changing in your sector? Which regulations are coming?

Double materiality works best when you keep it practical. You don’t need complex models in year one. Start with what you know, document your assumptions clearly, and build from there. Transparency always trumps perfection. A top tip is to align your sustainability risk matrix with the risk methodologies you already use in the business. It gives you a familiar framework to build from and keeps the process consistent.

What’s the cost–benefit analysis of sustainability?

Sustainability isn’t free, but it also doesn’t have to be a sunk cost. Evaluating actions by return on investment, risk reduction, and long-term value will help prioritise where to begin.

Some actions may save you money immediately (energy efficiency, reducing waste, travel optimisation), while others matter because they future-proof the business, meet client expectations, support employee retention, and, most importantly, protect the environment that ultimately sustains us all.

A good rule of thumb: Actions should be challenging enough to drive progress, but appropriate for your size, sector, and resources.

How do you align stakeholders on your sustainability journey?

Stakeholder alignment comes down to three things: communication, clarity, and collaboration.

Invite stakeholders in early and avoid pressuring them at the last minute to provide relevant data. Being open about challenges builds credibility and avoids setting unrealistic expectations.

When people feel part of the journey, alignment happens organically.

Start by explaining why sustainability matters to your business, whether that’s compliance, customer expectations, cost savings, talent attraction, or long-term risk management. Then translate these reasons into simple messages for each group:

Leadership

Strategic opportunity, risk reduction, brand strength

Employees

Wellbeing, culture, meaningful work

Clients

Trust, transparency, partnership

Suppliers

Shared standards and simpler reporting

Community

Local impact and long-term resilience

Download ifac's Sustainability Report 2024

Sustainability is a journey defined by honesty, practicality, and collaboration.

Progress, not perfection, is what moves your business forward.

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Rosie O’Neill, Director of Sustainability at ifac

"This report is designed to turn ambition into action. It reflects ifac’s own sustainability journey - what we’ve achieved, what we’ve learned, and where we’re going next. By being transparent about our approach, we hope to make sustainability feel achievable and to help Irish SMEs and agri-businesses understand how sustainability fits into their operations and how they can move forward with confidence. Every organisation’s path will look different, but by using reputable frameworks and engaging with our advisory teams, businesses can find practical ways to integrate sustainability into their own operations and culture. Our goal is to make sustainability accessible, measurable, and meaningful for every organisation we work with.”

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Talk to Dr Rosie O'Neill

Director of Sustainability087 7390712 rosieoneill@ifac.ie Linkedin