Educating our people on biodiversity and our partnership with Global Action Plan
Increasing awareness of the significance of biodiversity in our everyday lives and highlighting community opportunities for our people to make an impact on the planet
Biodiversity was the theme of this year's Climate Impact Week. As an essential part of human activity, the value of biodiversity cannot be overstated. Biodiversity loss can have a direct impact upon business operations and supply chains. We continued our partnership with Global Action Plan (GAP), which educates people on how to take practical action and facilitate long term everyday behavioural changes, for a more sustainable life.
The objectives of our Climate Impact Week 2022 were:
- to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity
- to provide a foundation for understanding the pressures on biodiversity in the global and local context and the dependencies and impacts of businesses and individuals on biodiversity
- to inspire positive action through practical advice and local volunteering opportunities
We partnered with World Wildlife Fund, the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Global Action Plan, and Leave No Trace Ireland.
Our webinar with the World Wildlife Fund provided an insight into global biodiversity, how it impacts our daily lives and businesses as well as the role that the finance sector play in supporting biodiversity protection.
The GAP webinar, “Biodiversity 101” gave our people real insight as to why protecting biodiversity is so important and what causes the loss of native habitats. The webinar explored the connection between the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis while inspiring our people to take action to conserve biodiversity at home and in the workplace.
The Irish Peatlands Conservation Council joined us for a talk about Irish bogs and the services they provide for us every day. These include their vital role in climate change mitigation by acting as a large carbon sink as well as other services like water regulation and providing a home to unique biodiversity.
Leave No Trace Ireland gave our people an introduction to our Leave No Trace Bull Island Hotspot project. Bull Island is a haven for both local and visiting wildlife. The area has several nature conservation designations for its habitats and species. Together with Leave No Trace and Dublin City Council, we are working to mitigate negative human impacts as well as surveying local areas through BioBlitzs. Education days with volunteers and locals are empowering people to take care of this amazing place.
Under our partnership with Global Actions Plan (GAP), which supports communities and society through its environmental education programmes, this year we part-funded GAP and Young Ballymun’s Nature Explorer Programme for Toddlers and After-schoolers. This programme was created to encourage families living in emergency accommodation or disadvantaged circumstances to explore the natural world safely and intuitively.
Our in-person volunteering opportunity took place in the GAP community garden in Ballymun. The Connect and Grow programme brings people of all ages and abilities together to interact, learn new skills and reap the benefits of their own harvest grown in the GLAS (Green Living And Sustainable) community garden in Ballymun. The garden welcomes and encourages users and volunteers from all backgrounds such as people from disadvantaged communities, people with limited mobility, wheelchair users, and people living in direct provision centres in the area.
Deloitte employees dedicated 186 hours learning about biodiversity and volunteering during Climate Impact week.
“As part of Climate Impact Week, I attended the webinars and participated in the volunteer activities. All of these were brilliant experiences for me as they taught me so much about biodiversity and what our contributions can be in promoting a climate-conscious world. Even if it’s a little amount, I look forward to doing my bit for the planet.”
- Mehak Preet Kaur, Consulting
“I am pleased to have joined the volunteer activity with GAP to help in their community garden to prepare it for the programmes which aim to inspire and support everyone to take practical steps towards creating sustainable communities. I encourage everyone to get involved.”
– Marco Raschella, Solutions Engineer, Consulting
“We have had the pleasure of working with Deloitte for a number of years now, on a shared journey of discovery, as we work to find innovative solutions to the climate and environmental crises. GAP has been able to contribute its expertise through joint workshops and other initiatives. As one of our most important corporate partners, helping us increase our reach and impact, and allowing us to keep our social inclusion programme accessible to all”
- Hans Zomer, CEO Global Action Plan
