Environment

The environment

Climate change is the single most pressing challenge facing Ireland and global societies today. To address climate change, the Irish Government has ambitious climate and energy targets to successfully transition to a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The gas network, while serving Ireland's energy needs today, is also focused on transforming into a fully decarbonised network that transports renewable gases. These ambitions are very much aligned to supporting Ireland's progress towards UNSDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy and UNSDG 13: Climate Action.

Gas Networks Ireland continuously revise our approach to reducing the environmental impact of business activities, and our investment in leading asset management systems and processes contributes to enhanced network asset performance and energy efficiency.

We have developed objectives in several areas including climate action, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, energy use, water use, and waste generation all of which are verifiable within our certified Environmental Management System ISO14001 and Energy Management System ISO50001. Our Greenhouse Gas Inventory was independently verified according to ISO14064‑3:2019 specifications with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas statements.

The sustainability team promotes an integrated and strategic approach to environmental and energy management across the business and our asset base. Bespoke in-house design toolkits and environmental guidance assist our designers, planners and operations colleagues to apply a standardised approach to environmental management.

Climate action

Securing our future - Working collaboratively to develop a sustainable energy system that facilitates and supports Ireland's net zero target.

The gas network is crucial to Ireland's energy mix and imperative to achieving climate action targets. Our vision is for a net zero carbon gas network by 2045, by replacing natural gas with renewable gases, such as carbon neutral biomethane made from agricultural and food waste and carbon free green hydrogen. Decarbonising the gas network will complement the development of renewable electricity, reduce emissions across all sectors of the economy including those that are traditionally difficult to decarbonise such as industry, agriculture and heavy transport, and further enhance the security and diversity of Ireland's energy supply.

We will continue to work towards delivering the Government target of up to 5.7TWh of biomethane on our network by 2030. We firmly believe that the 2030 target of 5.7TWh can be achieved with the requisite Government support. We will engage all stakeholders to facilitate achievement of this important objective and in the delivery of a National Biomethane Strategy.

GHG emissions management

Our Energy Management System (EMS) supports us to meet energy efficiency and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.

GHG emissions

Sustainability and decarbonisation principles are at the core of our business and strategic decisions. We established our carbon footprint in 2019, aligned with global best practice.

We selected 2010 as our baseline carbon year, a time before the Corrib gas field commenced supplies of natural gas to Ireland. We utilised verified emission equivalency conversion factors from SEAI where possible, DEFRA and empirical data from staff activities such as commuting.

Our 2023 GHG inventory was independently verified according to the ISO 14064-3:2019 Specifications with Guidance for the Validation and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Statements. Gases included are CO₂, CH₄ etc. Final figures are reported in tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e).

Low carbon pledge

We are signatories of the Low Carbon Pledge, a Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) initiative for Irish businesses to invest time and resources into creating a more sustainable operation, by being more energy efficient and reducing carbon usage.

To help ensure consistency and comparability of efforts across various companies the internationally recognised Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard is used as the underlying framework for the Low Carbon Pledge. Signatory companies commit to the following:

• Record their entire Carbon Footprint, both direct (Scope 1 & 2) and indirect (Scope 3) carbon emissions.
• Reduce carbon emissions that they are directly responsible for (Scope 1 & 2), as well as play their part in reducing emissions across their supply chain (Scope 3).
• Report publicly their individual progress, as well as collectively through the annual BITCI Low Carbon Report.
• Regularly review their carbon reduction targets (SBTs) to align to the latest Climate Science.
• Pledge to reduce carbon emission intensity by 50% by 2030

Energy management

We are certified to the Energy Management System (EMS) ISO50001:2015.

Fuel gas

Gas Networks Ireland offer staff a number of commuting options including a car-sharing facility, the establishment of Bicycle User Groups (BUGs), carrying out events promoting sustainable travel and providing free bike services to staff.

We promote and support smarter travel options which have positive impacts for our colleagues, our business and for our environment. We encourage staff to use public transport where feasible over taking their vehicle. We reviewed our "agile working" policy (which allowed staff to work from home or from one of our nationwide office locations) and have moved to a "hybrid working" policy allowing staff to continue to work remotely for part of the working week. We also provide and promote the use of video conferencing. This allows employees to benefit from flexible work locations and hours, exceeding current government guidelines.

Public Sector Monitoring and Reporting Targets (PSMR)

We are an active participant in the Government's Public Sector Monitoring and Reporting (PSMR) initiative. The scope of the PMSR applies to our office and fleet energy which amounts to less than 1% of our overall emissions.

Water reduction and management

While water use is not a material issue for us as we are not a significant user of water, we do monitor and track usage. We have substantially reduced our water usage since 2013, as a result of improved performance and upgrading of our offices.

We monitor and report water consumption based on utility meters and reconcile this, where possible, with sub metering data. We report water consumption by supply and treatment of both volume and carbon equivalent using Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) conversion factors. We utilise internally sourced emission factors for both supply and treatment of water. We do not consume water from areas of water stress.

In 2023 we used 3,892,000 litres of water, resulting in our water consumption falling to 1.5 TCO₂e in 2023.

Waste reduction and management

We are committed to reducing our waste to landfill and the company's long-term target is to send zero waste to landfill by 2025. Monthly key performance indicators (KPIs) are recorded and reported.

All our waste suppliers are audited to assess operational best practice and to ensure adherence to Gas Networks Irelands standards. Our two main contractors who carry out work on our behalf also report monthly on their waste KPIs and are also striving to meet Gas Networks Ireland's target of zero waste to landfill by 2025.

In 2023, the overall figure for recycling and recovery in our offices was 100%.