Danske Bank has been awarded the Environmental Leadership award at the 2021 Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland.

Business in the Community’s annual recognition event recognises and rewards firms in Northern Ireland that are embracing the journey to build better workforces, create a sustainable economy and healthy communities.

The Environmental Leadership category, sponsored by Heron Bros. Ltd, recognises organisations for demonstrating a significant commitment and contribution to environmental sustainability in Northern Ireland.

Kieran Harding, Managing Director, Business in the Community says: “Congratulations to each of the winning organisations for leading the way in responsible business. This year has been really challenging for a lot of businesses and people in Northern Ireland, so I want to thank our winning, highly commended and shortlisted organisations for continuing to make responsible business action a priority.

“The judging process of the Awards is robust, and the standard of entries was phenomenally high this year. All winners demonstrated true leadership in the area of responsible business and their entries are sure to inspire others in their own responsible business journey.”

Chris Martin, Head of Sustainability at Danske Bank said:

“The financial services sector has an important role to play in helping businesses transition towards a zero-carbon economy.

“For many years, we’ve had a strong focus on minimising the environmental impact of our operations, but in the last 18 months we have significantly stepped up our commitment and efforts to tackle climate change and contribute to a more sustainable future.

“We’ve committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and have a strategy in place to achieve that target. We’ve already delivered significant reductions in the emissions produced through our own operations, for example through more energy efficient heating systems, LED lighting, solar panels and changing our company car policy. We’ve also been providing sustainability training for our employees and have co-developed a climate literacy programme with Business in the Community for businesses. In June we launched the UK’s first mortgage to be certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust.

“We’ve a lot still to do but are committed to playing our part and are excited about new initiatives still to come.”

Winners in all eleven responsible business categories were announced at a hybrid awards event, hosted in-studio by TV and weather presenter Barra Best and broadcast live across Business in the Community’s digital platforms.

For more information on the Awards and to see a full list of 2021 winners, visit the Business in the Community website.