The Climate Action Mandate requires that leadership and governance structures for climate action are set up and that staff are engaged with climate action and have appropriate training. To this end, the CSO has appointed an Energy Performance Officer, as well as a Climate and Sustainability Champion at Management Board level. An Energy Team report to the EPO, and a Green Team (Climate Action Team) has been established, drawing from staff engagement forums.
The Climate and Sustainability Champion, who covers the role of Energy Performance Officer, is Maria Hurley, Assistant Director General for Corporate Affairs. Maria leads the Facilities Management, Communications and Dissemination and HR/Learning & Development functions, where much of the direct-action responsibility lies.
The main functions of the Climate and Sustainability Champion is:
The main function of the Energy Performance Officer is:
Deirdre Mahony, Assistant Director General for Climate, Environment, Enterprise & Sustainability, carries out the role of Corporate Sustainability Sponsor at Management Board level. Deirdre brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in this area.
There is an Energy Team within the Facilities Management area who manage the CSO energy consumption and focus on behavioural changes to ensure we maintain our progress. In conjunction with OPW and our SEAI partners, the Energy Team develop initiatives to reduce our consumption and run regular communications with all staff through Optimising Power @ Work and the “Reduce Your Use” campaign. They will also focus on reducing consumption through business-as-usual activities and plan for bigger projects with OPW to reach our 2030 targets.
The Staff Engagement & Innovation Committee (SEIC) have been given an additional role to engage and deliver on climate action with all staff. Existing staff who were part of Green Teams have now joined a bespoke SEIC structure and all staff will be encouraged to become involved in personal and corporate actions. Members of the Energy Team from Facilities Management also sit on this group. The CSO’s Green Team is called the Climate Action Team (CAT) and is represented across all three locations and a mix of Directorates.
Climate Awareness training has been rolled out for all staff in the CSO.
OneLearning/IPA has rolled out an eLearning course to give a high-level overview of Climate Action Awareness for the Civil and Public Service. This awareness training is available on OneLearning. The CSO has set this as mandatory training for all new staff.
These recorded session covers the following:
To date, up to 700 staff have completed with the remainder in the process of completing it.
In 2023, we rolled out a Climate Action Leadership programme with the IPA to Senior leaders. In 2024, we moved to a new provider for all new and newly promoted staff at this level. This ensures that all Senior leadership in the CSO have access to Climate Action specific leadership training. This training has been designed to ensure full awareness of the needs arising from climate change and to empower senior figures to incorporate climate action into their strategic thinking.
The Climate Action Team have completed bespoke training that provides them with the relevant knowledge and skills to brainstorm, educate, plan, and implement initiatives which support the roadmap and the CSO’s sustainability drive overall.
Facilities Management and other relevant management/staff have undertaken training/workshops to understand better the concepts, targets, and actions in addressing emissions reductions. This training included Introduction to Carbon workshops, engaging with the SEAI concerning Reduce Your Use campaigns, etc., and other webinars.
Other higher-level programmes, such as the Climate Action and Sustainability Reporting Level 9 programme through the IPA, have been completed.
Facilities Management has also engaged with their Aramark partners, under the Optimising Power @Work initiative, to deliver training and webinars/workshops to staff members. Regular communications campaigns such as “Reduce your use” are undertaken to raise awareness amongst staff and Energy Clinics were hosted in all offices.