Over 1,000 Déise businesses take green pledge

More than 1,000 businesses in Waterford have pledged to work towards a cleaner and greener Waterford as part of an environmental campaign being run by Waterford City and County Council.

"There has been a fantastic response to the business pledge initiative," said Sean McKeown, Chief Executive of Waterford City and County Council, who said the high uptake from businesses "highlights the appetite of Waterford businesses to commit to more sustainable business practices that not only have a positive impact on the environment, but also on their operating costs."

The Business Pledge for A Cleaner, Greener Waterford is part of the Council's goal to make Waterford carbon-neutral by 2040. As part of the pledge, businesses have committed to work to by more environmentally friendly and taking two measurable actions to reduce their carbon footprints. 

Mr McKeown said that "Waterford is the first and only Local Authority to implement such a scheme, and it is just one component of our extremely ambitious strategy in the Climate Action Plan 2024–2029 to achieve energy efficiency and reduce emission targets significantly."

"In our ambition to be Ireland's first carbon-neutral city it is heartening to see the groundswell of support from the local business community," he added.

The scheme was first known as the Commercial Energy Discount Scheme when it was first announced in 2022 and has since enticed local businesses in Waterford to transition to carbon-neutral business practices carbon neutrality by identifying opportunities for reducing energy usage and costs, exploring the potential of renewable energy while availing of a discount on their commercial rates.

“Waterford City and County Council, working in tandem with local businesses, can collectively make Waterford the most sustainable place in Ireland to do business," said Gráinne Kennedy, the Climate Action Coordinator with Waterford City and County Council.

"We had fantastic support from local businesses across the city and county and I'd particularly like to extend our gratitude to our local "ambassadors", Dooley's Hotel, Cantec Group, Powerflow Electronics and Blossom & Berry Florists, who all enthusiastically picked up and ran with the sustainability baton."

The green pledge is available to businesses with annual rate bills less than €10,000 or operate in the hospitality and leisure industries. Businesses are required to provide details of the actions they will take to become more sustainable in the coming year, with the 9% commercial rates discount applied in December.