Message from Chairman
I am delighted to present to you our inaugural Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, a significant milestone in our commitment to sustainable and responsible business practices.
This report outlines our multifaceted approach to ESG, reflecting the collective efforts of our employees, board, donors, UL partners, and stakeholders who have contributed to shaping our sustainable agenda. We acknowledge that the pursuit of sustainability is an ongoing journey, and through continuous self-assessment, we identify areas for growth and innovation.
In an era where global challenges underscore the importance of responsible corporate citizenship, this report exemplifies our dedication to integrating ESG principles into the core ofouroperations. Our journeytowardssustainabilityis not just aresponsetoprevailingtrends, but also a testament to our belief that organisations must act as catalysts for positive change.
I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all who have contributed to our ESG journey: to our employees and directors, whose passion and commitment drive our sustainability initiatives; to our UL partners, who share our vision and collaborate with us to effect positive change; and to our donors and stakeholders, who hold us accountable and inspire us to push the boundaries of ESG practices
In closing, I invite you to engage with this report as both a testament to our accomplishments and a call to action. Let us continue to collectively steer the course towards a more sustainable and equitable future where the principles of Environmental, Social, and Governance remain at the heart of all that we do.
Harry Fehily UL Foundation ChairmanUL Foundation has funded some of the most significant capital projects undertaken by UL and continues to play an important role in campus development and expansion plans. We acknowledge our responsibility in ensuring the projects we fund place ESG at the centre of ambitions.
UL Foundation is delighted to share our first ESG report that details how we are striving to operate responsibly. We used Ingenium’s ESGx25 framework as a reference guide for making thisreport.WewouldliketothankIngenium,andalsoexpressourgratitudetoHughO’Donnell for his support, for making this report possible. We hope our first ESG report sets the scene for what we plan to achieve over the next few years, in terms of establishing our environmental, social, and governance, goals.
We have a responsibility to bolster the long-term sustainability of our operations, casting a positive impact by acknowledging the risk of global warming, meeting the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents for our business, as well as reducing the environmental impact of our projects.
Developing solutions to the sustainability challenges we face is critical for our planet, society and communities around the world. One of the most pressing issues faced by society today is climate change, but with that comes associated economic concerns. There are opportunities to establish policies that promote sustainable development, environmental preservation, and economic progress. While we – as a fund raiser, cannot solve these challenges alone, we have an important role to play. With significant capital and strategic support, we can succeed in building sustainable infrastructure and positively impacting the education sector.
Our expertise in funding infrastructure and education at the University of Limerick makes us well positioned to help by funding solutions that support the transition to a low-carbon and more inclusive economy. Our aim is to support UL in building sustainable infrastructure, as well as developing and scaling new technologies. Furthermore, we are focused on raising funds for scholarships for university students in technology and sustainability areas.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth –all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests [1]
Out of these 17 goals, UL Foundation and the projects funded, support 10 sustainable development goals. These include:
Goal 4: Quality Education
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Goal 13: Climate Action
Goal 15: Life on Land
ESG Overview Environmental
The environmental component focuses on how the business minimises its impact on the environment combatting climate change by implementing sustainable and ethical practices in different areas of its organisation. These practices include managing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing overall carbon footprint, using waste management techniques and improving energy efficiency.
Social
The social component focuses on how a business affects wider society and workplace culture by positively contributing to fairness in society. This includes measures like fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, cultivating positive employee relations, supporting local communities, ensuring the health and safety of the workforce.
Governance
Governance refers to the processes of decision-making, reporting, and the logistics of running a business by looking at the business's ethical behaviour and its transparency with stakeholders about its activities. It examines organisational self-regulation in executive remuneration; board processes, sub-committees, & D&I; accounting; data privacy and security and all fundamental sustainability requirements for the organisation’s board of directors to oversee.
ESG Menu
This includes a menu of 13 non-financial performance indicators that are applicable to UL Foundation A strategy is created using a structured approach for each – Environmental, Social and Governance
Environment –
1. Carbon Footprint
2. Energy Efficiency
3. Greenhouse Gases
4. Climate Change & Climate Action
Social –
1. Employee Relations & Development
2. Health & Safety
3. Working Conditions
4. Diversity & Inclusion Equal Opportunities
Governance –
1. Regulation & Refreshing Policies
2. Board & Committee Effectiveness
3. Data Privacy & Security
4. Risk Management & Customer Relationships
5. Renumeration
Greenhouse Gas Protocol
Overview
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) provides accounting and reporting standards, sector guidance, calculation tools and training for businesses and local and national governments. We have used the GHGP to estimate ourgreenhouse gas emissions. It is an excel based tool and it has created a comprehensive,global, standardized framework formeasuring andmanaging emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains, products, cities and policies to enable greenhouse gas reductions across the board
Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Protocol tool
Building on a 20-year partnership between World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), GHG Protocol works with governments, industryassociations, NGOs, businesses and other organizations [2].
Reporting Scopes 1, 2 & 3
Overview of GHG Protocol scopes and emissions across the value chain
Scope 1
Scope 1 emissions are GHG emissions from sources that comes as a direct result of an organisation’s activities. This could include fuel combustion in boilers or furnaces, refrigerants like air-conditioning and freezers, and emissions from manufacturing processes or a fleet of vehicles.
Scope 1 emissions are the most straightforward to measure, report and act on. As they relate to equipment and processes that are within the organisation’s ownership or control, it is less complicated to determine what should be measured than in the case of indirect emissions. That the emission sources are within the company’s control also means it normally has access to the data needed for assessment and reduction.
Scope 2
Currently, the Foundation does not contribute to GHG emissions from any of its direct activities like companyfacilities or vehicles owned by the organization.
Scope 3
Scope2coversindirectemissionsfromthegenerationofenergyanorganisationuses.This includes electricity, as well as steam, heating, and cooling. Electricity generation often represents a large part of a company’s scope 2 GHG emissions, making it important to assess, and relatively easy to act on, assuming renewable energy sources are available in the area.
Measures to look at include switching to a renewable electricity supplier and enhancing thebusiness’s energyefficiency, whichcomes withtheaddedbenefit ofloweroperational costs.
For the purpose of this report, GHG emissions were measured. These emissions were a result of indirect contribution to greenhouse gases from operations of the projects funded by UL Foundation.
Scope 3 is much broader. It is also more difficult to report on since it covers indirect emissions from many sources across an organisations supply chain. This includes emissions relating to the production and transportation of goods and services bought by thecompany; staffcommutinginvehiclesnotownedoroperatedbythecompany; andthe transportation of purchased fuel and energy. It also includes the emissions of a product’s full lifecycle, even once they are out of a company’s hands.
There are no legal requirements to report on scope 3 emissions. Identifying and reducing these emissions across the supply and value chains can be difficult for businesses with complex supply lines and global distribution networks. They are also hard for companies to directly influence.
However, for many companies, most emissions are scope 3. Measuring and managing these emissions can motivate a company to do business with greener suppliers, improve the energyefficiencyof its products, and rethink its distribution network. These measures offer the biggest opportunity to significantlyreduce the overall impact on the climate.
Scope 3 emissions in UL Foundation’s GHG inventory include activities from business travellikecommercialairtransport.ULFoundationwillcontinuetoexpanditsvaluechain emissions, where relevant and where data are accessible.
The climate crisis has created an opportunity for us to lead byexample through UL Foundation funded environmentally sustainable projects to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy. The University of Limerick's performance in the UI GreenMetric is encouraging. Initiated in 2010, UI GreenMetric is a ranking framework on green campus and environmental sustainability. Through 39 indicators in 6 criteria, the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings systematically and carefully determines the rankings by environmental commitment and initiatives by universities. We are inspired to see UL in the top 2% with a rank of 21 in a pool of 956 global universities [3][4].
SEAI
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland released its Annual Report on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance in 2021. It is very encouraging to see that the University of Limerick exceeded its 2020 target of 33% improvement in energy efficiency, achieving a 43.4% improvement in energy efficiency compared with the baseline period, as published in the report. This number also surpasses the overall public sector improvement in energy efficiency of 34.1% [5]. Furthermore, SEAI Energy Glidepath 2006-2020 shows the energy efficiencyincreases achievedandannualCO2 emissionsbyULyear-on-yearfrom2006–2020. There has been an overall reduction of 43% of kg CO2 emitted by the University in 2020 as compared to year 2006, and reduction of 22% compared to the year 2019 [6]. The new target for the public sector as per the Climate Action Plan 2021 is to increase energy efficiency to 50% by 2030 and reduce CO2 output by 51% by 2030. UL Foundation has an opportunity and responsibility to help UL reach this target by collecting the required funding for environmentallysustainable projects. Below are some examples that illustrate our commitment to sustainability with the projects we funded until now.
ULF Funded Projects and Their Sustainability Elements
UL Sports Arena
The capital outlay for UL Sports Arena was UL Foundation funded and it was part-funded by SEAI in 2017. Philanthropists played a principal role in funding the capital development of UL’s Sports Arena. UL Foundation is encouraged to see that UL is retrofitting landmark capital projects to meet the evolving energy standards being set nationally. A comprehensive study on minimising energy consumption was recently completed for UL Sports Arena In this example, environmental considerations were taken into account with the addition of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit. Further recommendations were made both in terms of the environmental impact and cost of choosing one over the other, considering the carbon intensity of using CHP vs Air Source Heat Pump out to 2030 and 2040. The UL Sports Arena also completed a lighting upgrade project to EXEED standards – Excellence in Energy Efficiency Design. A Before vs After comparison of electricity consumption showed a yearon-year electricity savings of 17.5% and monetary savings of €27,000 [7].
Analog Devices building
The Analog Devices building received more than €30 million in philanthropic funding, with a further €20 million from the State and University resources. It was designed to Green Building Certification framework, BREEAM – Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. BREEAM is a leading science-based suite of validation and certification systems for a sustainable built environment using criteria including the management of the project, health and well-being, energy, transport, water, materials, waste, land use and ecology, pollutionandinnovation.TheAnalogDevicesbuildingreceivedanExcellentBREEAMrating. For this building, manyenvironmentallyfriendly applications were used like Water harvesting, Heat Recovery, Solar Thermal, Building Management System, Strobic Fans with Variable Air Volume dampers Power Factor Correction, Energy Metering, Zoned Heating, Occupancy Detection, Daylight Saving, Chilled Drinking Water Fountains among others.
Library Extension
UL Foundation part-funded the capital build for the library extension. The Glucksman Library is effectively two buildings joined together. The first part of the Library – the original GLISB
was built in 1997. It does not have a Building Energy Rating, but it does have a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) which is equivalent to an operational BER. It achieved a DEC of E1. The second most recent part of the building – Library Extension was built in 2018 and it achieved BER rating of B1. It included decarbonised technologies such as an air source heat pump and renewable technologies such as solar thermal.
Environmental Performance Indicators
The following are the non-financial indicators against which UL Foundation examines its environmental performance:
Carbon Footprint
ULFoundation is conscious of its carbonfootprint andcaringforthe climate is ademonstration oftheFoundation’score values. Weused acarbon footprint calculatortool,similarto theGHG Protocol (GHGP), to measure of our emissions data. This is essential to determine UL Foundation’s overall Carbon Footprint and will help in establishing standards for carbon offsetting.
Energy Efficiency & Waste
We take energy efficiency into consideration for the projects that we support. Comprehensive study on minimising energy consumption, assessing building heat loss/heat recovery and replacing Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units are some of the many processes used to improve energy efficiency. We strive for transparency and commit to sustainability and a greener environment.
Greenhouse Gases
UL Foundation is conscious of the amount of greenhouse gases that it releases into the atmosphere. Most of our team members live locally, so the amount of direct GHG emissions into the air is very low. We used the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to measure indirect emissions caused by annual flights taken by our Foundation members. Annually, approximately 20.43 Tonnes of CO2e – carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases is produced. Carbon dioxide equivalent is all the greenhouse gases quantified in one single metric CO2e. We also used the GHGP to measure other indirect emissions caused by electricity consumed by our projects. Campus establishments like UL Sports Arena, Foundation building, School of Medicine building and Library Phase 2 consumed 3.6 million kWh in 2021, as compared to 2.3 million kWh in the year 2020 [8]. This amounted to a total of 1,252 Tonnes of CO2e in the year 2021, whereas in the year 2020, the buildings produced 800 Tonnes of CO2e caused by electricity alone. The dip in the emissions data for the year 2020 is attributed to COVID-19 which considerably reduced electricity consumption. Moving ahead, GHGP will be used in monitoring air quality. UL Foundation strives to move towards facilitating greener transportation for our members with increased engagement on ESG.
Climate Change & Climate Action
ULFoundation focuses on environmental issues byconsidering these issues in the projects that we support. Specific research conducted in UL demonstrated that savings of 11% in energy consumption can be achieved using behaviour change measures. UL Foundation assists by funding grants and scholarship programmes in sustainability areas. Using a Green Building Certification method like BREEAM to assess a building, we promote the project’s sustainability supporting climate action. We also fund projects to retrofit new efficient technologies and infrastructure. This ESG report, is one step further to embed sustainability in our vision, mission and values.
Social
UL Foundation has funded numerous projects in UL, from UL Sports Arena to the Foundation building, the School of Medicine and the Bernal Institute. All the projects we have funded contribute to a significant social impact. Sports facilities available to students in the Munster RugbyHPU(HighPerformanceUnit)andULSportsArena,promote goodphysical andmental well-being. The School of Medicine provides medical students with an immersive learning experience, training and shaping them to contribute towards the betterment of society in the healthcare sector. School of Medicine scholarships have also supported groups that have traditionally been under-represented in the medical profession. Furthermore, establishments like the Bernal Institute and UL Library Phase 2 (libraryextension) encourage research and the academic endeavours of students. UL Foundation takes immense pride in contributing to societal progress with these projects.
Promoting Social Change with Capital, Grants and Scholarship Programmes
Much of UL Foundation’s outputs have a positive social impact. We promote education and research by not only funding capital and equipment projects in UL, but also providing scholarships and grants. In 2022, UL Foundation awarded 135 scholarships to students at UL.
Scholarships are the most impactful way of offering support and transforming lives. 100% of the money received from donors goes directly to their chosen scholarship area. Our priority areas have included student groups that have been under-represented in the university sector for socio-economic reasons; students with a disability; asylum seekers/refugees; as well as rewarding academic merit, musical excellence and sporting talent. On the 50th anniversary of UL, fifty new scholarships were provided to students opening doors and expanding horizons for students coming from various educational and economic backgrounds.
Below is the analysis of our 50ForFifty anniversary scholarship programme –
The UL Foundation also supports the Academy for Children programme, which is an initiative of UL’s Access Office and an example of the University’s community outreach work. The Academy partners with DEIS primary schools in Limerick City and County delivering a mix of bespoke programmes and on-campus exploration days. These are aimed at raising aspirations, so that the children and their parents begin to view third level education an option for them.
Moving ahead our focus on scholarships will be on sustainability and access programmes, focusing on underserved communities, gender, means or need based, as well as merit-based scholarships around the area of sustainability.
The following indicators examine the Foundation’s social functioning:
Social Indicators
Employee Relations & Development
UL Foundation strives to maintain the highest ethical standards in the workplace. To reinforce this, we have a Code of Conduct Policy; Dignity, Respect and Workplace Ethics Policy; Conflict of Interest Policy, among other internal policies. These policies develop and maintain positive working relationships and enhance employee morale with fair and transparent people practices.
In addition, UL Foundation has an Education Training & Development Policy. As part of the annual review process, staff and board members are evaluated against common performance indicators and KPIs, fostering a collaborative environment.
Working Conditions
We are pleased to see that more than 75% of staff has been a part of our Foundation for more than 15 years. We endeavour to create rewarding working conditions which actively provide opportunities and fulfil career goals.We have competitive payandemployee benefits. Creating a productive working environment, encouraging project ownership, enhanced employee attraction and retention are our key priorities.
Health & Safety
We embrace a holistic approach to the wellbeing of our staff and board members and understand the health of our workforce is intrinsically linked to that of the organisation. We have a Health and Safety Policy, which provides and maintains a safe workplace.
Diversity & Inclusion Equal Opportunities
ULF has 80% of female staff whereas the board has approximately 25% of female members. We place utmost importance on gender equality, and we are proud to see women in leadership roles. UL’s current president Professor Kerstin Mey is the first woman president to head a university in Ireland. We are striving to improve the overall diversity of our board and staff, and we hope in the future to expand the numbers of members representing diversity backgrounds, including race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic and sexual orientation. To promote diversityin our scholarship programmes, we provide a number of female scholarships in STEM ensuring diversity in areas that are traditionally under-represented by women.
Governance
UL Foundation is committed to sound and effective governance practices. Our governance structures and processes strive to promote accountability, transparency and ethical behaviour. We regularly evaluate and enhance the structures to help us operate at the highest levels of performance in everything we do. We are a charity registered with the Charities Regulatory Authority. We are also registered with the Revenue Commissioners in Ireland. UL Foundation submits a charity regulator report each year and is independently audited by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).
Our primary objective is advancement in research and education. UL Foundation receives financial assistance from the University of Limerick, which ensures that donor funds can be deployed directly to the projects supported. Good governance is a central pillar and day-today priority for the staff and CEO. Delivery of agreed parameters around fundraising, administration, donor reporting and gift acceptance are priorities for us daily.
Governance Indicators
An expansive range of indicators is considered by UL Foundation as we analyse our performance in governance.
Regulation & Policies
In November 2019, the Foundation undertook a major review of all policies and procedures, and a new Governance pack was approved by the board.
All charities are required to report on their compliance to the Charities Governance Code. We took this as an opportunityto review our activities and further strengthen our internal structures and reporting on an annual basis. A full review of all policies and procedures was completed in 2021. This new and revised governance structure underpins day-to-day management, board involvement and oversight. Additionally, we are also conducting an independent external review to identify if there are areas we might strengthen further. The review will help us improving our structure, board membership and governance. This report will be shared with the Board in late 2023.
Board & Committee Effectiveness
We have a Board of 21 members and, we have four active specialist committees – Operations; Audit, Finance and Risk; Nominations; and Remuneration. These sub-committees have clear terms of reference and job specifications. They play a role in reinforcing our commitment to channelling philanthropy from our supporters in accordance with the UL Foundation’s principles. The committees convene regularly meeting 2 – 4 times annually with a focus on their core duties, as well as providingreports to the board twice yearlyand reviewing their own effectiveness annually. Additional information on our governance structure and duties is mentioned below:
Terms of Reference for Board and Duties of Directors is in place. We update the terms of reference for the board and each of its sub-committees to make it explicit where ownership and monitoring lies within the organisation.
Board roles and responsibilities for the charity are discussed, agreed and documented.
Key officers, such as the chairperson, have specific functions assigned to them, which are clearly documented and understood
Directors and management understand their legal duties and responsibilities
A new Staff Handbook is in place
Weeklymeeting of CEO with UL Foundation Chairman and, regular meetings between CEO and UL President ensure clear lines of communication
The external review currently underway will add further strengthen board and committee effectiveness and UL Foundation’s support for UL.
Data Privacy & Security
Data privacy and security is a priority for us. A number of high-profile data breaches in other universities underline the importance of this topic for us. UL Foundation manages and maintains data in the following ways and is constantly striving to strengthen our processes and practices in this space:
We own physical servers to store our data, rather than hosting data in the cloud.
We place importance on GDPR and best practices and our policies include Data Protection & GDPR Policy. Along with this we also manage,
Personal Data Inventory List
Data Protection Impact Assessment DPIA Template
Data Protection Impact Assessment DPIA Questionnaire Checklist
Raisers Edge Data Flow Chart
UL Foundation has a service level agreement with UL IT, which is reviewed intermittently or as required, and uses IT services from UL IT Division.
UL Foundation has a memorandum of understanding and data agreement with both UL and UL Alumni.
To cover data breach and data loss UL Foundation has its own Cyber and Directors Insurance Policy and it is renewed annually
UL Foundation uses UL approved hardware and all laptops are encrypted
When sharing company documents externally (outside of UL email system) or proprietary information internally, we apply a known password to documents to reduce the risk of inappropriate access.
UL Foundation is currently engaged in a data storage and database data cleaning process to remove unnecessary data in line with business and data protection requirements and regulations
UL Foundation is consciously reducing and streamlining the use of resources by moving to softcopy data where applicable (e.g. board meeting packs and gift acknowledgement letters sent electronically), reducing the use of postal services,
reducing hardcopyfiles stored offsite bydata storage companies and upgrading to more energy efficient hardware recommended by UL IT Division.
Risk Management & Customer Relationships
The Audit, Finance and Risk sub-committee assists the board in its oversight and implements ariskmanagementframework,whichisdesignedtoidentify, assessandmanagefinancialrisks. With oversight from the committee, the following has been accomplished:
Internal financial controls for income, expenditure, banking, assets and investments have been reviewed and are in place.
Risk register is maintained by management and is regularly reviewed in the light of changing circumstances and influences
Insurance policies are in place
UL Foundation also publishes an annual Impact Report, donor thank-you video and written reports to all six-figure donors since 2021 maintaining good supporter relations. During the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the Foundation increased its communications with supporters through personalised gift reports, video updates and newsletters.
Remuneration
The Remuneration Committee is one of the four specialist sub-committees, which offers additionaloversight. TheroleoftheRemuneration Committeeis tohavean appropriatereward policies and practices, which attract and motivate employees to achieve UL Foundation goals in education and infrastructure and the long-term interests of investors.
Recommendations on ESG Reporting
General recommendations:
Conducting an ESG Sentiment Survey - designed to solicit organisational sentiment towards ESG. This might include supporters, board members and UL staff.
Pursuit of ESG policies and reporting should be properly considered to show how the Foundation’s work on ESG issues is helping to progress those objects on a year-byyear basis.
Setting up an internal working group - or include within the scope of the Operations Committee, including the CEO – that is dedicated to ESG reporting, tracks UL Foundation’s ESG steps and devises a strategy for development. The working group should identify where improvements need to be made and which areas may need more attention.
Continuous improvement on ESG and staying up to date and abreast of new regulations, with regular input from external experts.
There are also a number of corporate initiatives considering frameworks for ESG reporting. These initiatives include:
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
Task Force on Climate Related Disclosures (TFCRF)
Environmental recommendations:
Considering reporting on investment policy – demonstrating how the Foundation uses investments to promote/safeguard environment sustainability
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reporting, where required.
Adopting ISO 14001 Environmental Management System & ISO 14064 Climate Policy Neutral standard.
Establishing clear targets for robust carbon/energy & environmental management ISO 14001 targets
Comparison of company energy usage to national standards and benchmarks
Energy Management ISO 50001 certification - benchmark standard worldwide for Energy Management.
Track and optimise the energy consumption of the company.
Water usage and management systems, evaluated by experienced consultant.
Evaluate alternative water supplies such as harvested rainwater, or reclaimed water
Recycling knowledge and behaviour survey conducted amongst all staff/members
ISO 14064 Climate Policy Neutral & WRI GHGP for Green House Gas (GHG) Quantification, monitoring, and verification for air quality compliance assessment.
Using Green Building Certifications like BREEAM/LEED across all projects funded by ULF, wherever feasible.
Workshop held with management and directors to develop a list of environmental goals and targets for the Foundation
Seek to align with UL’s environmental efforts, to include regular meetings with Buildings and Estates and ULF involvement in early planning phases of projects
In addition to sharing our published report online, share case studies via ULF’s social media channels
Develop a matrix against which new projects to be funded can be graded / measured / considered
Make E, S and G a standing item on the Board meeting agendas
Pro-actively fundraise for projects that have an environmental component
Seek to reduce ULF’s existing carbon footprint, using the findings of this report as a base for future progress
Set an annual financial fundraising target for the E component of ULF’s work
Social recommendations:
Improving D&I Culture to include members and staff of all race, ethnicity, age, educational background, socio-economic background, LGBTQ++, disabled
Employee relations survey conducted by experienced culture consultants
Measure and track employee retention data
Review of employment policies and workplace practices.
Health & Safety site assessment to audit the working environment and conditions, in line with ISO 45001.
Review of current health and safety policies, procedures & work instructions on an annual basis
Even better integration with UL’s Access office.
Review financial performance / income generation through the social impact lens.
Increase fundraising emphasis on D&I positive projects.
Set an annual financial fundraising target for the Social component of ULF’s work.
Continue to make UL Foundation a safe and healthy working environment for our team.
Review all work practices on an on-going basis, with input from the entire team and seek to make continual progress each year.
Take practical steps to improve the gender / D&I representation at board level.
Encourage staff to avail of external training opportunities and continue to factor this into annual budget planning.
Governance recommendations:
Adoption of SWiFT 3000 (SWiFT 3000 is a Code of Practice for Corporate Governance Assessment for Irish companies and State bodies. It was launched by National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI). The new code provides a best practice standard for an independent evaluation of an organisation’s compliance with existing corporate governance codes such as the OECD principles, the Combined Code on Corporate Governance and the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. It is the first of its kind in the EU and the first to award certification to companies, which meet the required standard. Under the code, evidence-based evaluation of an organisation’s corporate governance practices is carried out by independent assessors who have met comprehensive qualification and experience criteria. Companies that meet the specifications of the Code are awarded the SWiFT 3000 Certification by independent accredited certification bodies).
Review of the organisation’s Code of Conduct, in line with SWiFT 3000
Review of current accounting processes and systems conducted in line with SWiFT 3000.
Review current data privacy and data security policies on at least an annual basis, drawing on external experts where necessary.
Analysis of security of current data storage devices and centres
Review cyber security risks, relying on external experts where needed
Continue annual adoption and compliance with Charity Governance Code. Recent updates were designed to support good governance and delivery of charitable purpose.
Implement finds of internal review (currently underway)
Consider new members to the Board on an annual basis
Keep ESG as a standing item on sub-committee agendas
Expand ULF report to provide personalized written reports to all donors, not just those giving at a six-figure level
Continue to make data cleaning a priority, deleting all non-relevant / complaint data held.
Endnotes
While we are delighted to have completed our first University of Limerick Foundation ESG Report, we are cognisant that we have entered an ongoing process of improvement and that addressing the many future recommendations will take time. That said, our 2023 ESG Report is important step in this process. Going forward, embedding sustainability in our vision, mission and values will continue to be a priority and we will strive to address the various recommendations outlined in this Report over time and strengthen our efforts in all areas.
Appendix
[1] UN Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations. Available online: https://sdgs.un.org/goals
[2] Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Available online: https://ghgprotocol.org/about-us
[3] Institute rankings by UI GreenMetric Ranking:
[4] Percentile of UL rank in UI GreenMetric Ranking:
[5] SEAI – Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland annual report of the year 2021 on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance
[6] SEAI – Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Energy Glidepath 2006-2020 – kg CO2 emitted by UL every year from 2006 to 2020
[8] Electricity consumption of UL buildings and total emissions in CO2e – carbon dioxide equivalent