Organised to educate and inspire on the topic of sustainability, Tirlán’s First ESG Summit was a huge success

Tirlán’s first ESG Summit took place in the Lyrath Hotel Kilkenny last month, bringing together ESG experts and advocates to discuss and debate our organisation’s sustainability journey so far and to accelerate awareness and understanding of the changes and opportunities that lie ahead.

Hosted by Chief ESG Officer Lisa Koep, the event aimed to educate and inspire on the topic of sustainability, to stress the urgency of our collective action and to build on the momentum already in place through our Living Proof strategy.

Speaking with Overherd after the summit, Lisa told us: “It was an honour for me to host Tirlán’s first ESG Summit. When planning the event over the last number of months our objectives were clear; to accelerate the understandings and discussions around sustainability across Tirlán, to ensure everyone understands why now is the time for action and to be clear that each individual can make an incredible difference to our organisation and our world.”

Tirlán’s Chief ESG Officer Lisa Koep

Tirlán has been making great strides in its sustainability efforts over recent years and the ESG Summit marked an important point in our journey as we begin to move the conversation beyond the ESG team and Sustainability Hub to the wider organisation. Our Purpose to Nourish Lives in Balance with Nature is a powerful statement upon which to base these conversations and the actions required to accelerate transformation.

Lisa went on to explain how “Climate change is already making it harder to feed a growing planet and at the same time, unsustainable food systems are worsening the problem, creating a vicious cycle. It’s clear we must move to a better way of nourishing our growing planet, equitably, affordably and sustainably. That puts the food and agricultural industry on the front line, with a unique and important role to play.”

The good news is that Tirlán, a global provider of dairy and plant nutrition solutions, with a value chain that spans over 100 countries and encompasses 6000 farm families, is stepping up to the challenge by working with farmers to help them protect and restore our nature and climate as well as growing food in the most sustainable way we can.

At our first ESG Summit, the audience heard from Tirlán’s resident experts on sustainability, those colleagues that work day in day out as agents of change across stakeholder groups. To complement this, we were also joined by industry experts from retail, banking and policy sectors who gave great insights on their expectations of Tirlán and their own journey in this sphere.

Internal Subject Matter Experts from L-R John Finlay, Michelle Collins, Thomas Ryan, Louise Hogan and Sarah Purcell discussed the pillars of Tirlán’s Living Proof Strategy with Audrey O’Shea (far left)

Across all of the discussions on the day, it was clear that we have challenges ahead. What was equally clear were the opportunities that will present themselves if we innovate and seize them.

The summit’s keynote speaker, Marie Donnelly, talked about Ireland’s track record in emerging with unrivalled energy when met with challenges and indeed Tirlán and its people have time and time again been shown to embrace opportunities and make gains through similar agility and innovation.

Marie Donnelly, Chairperson of the Climate Change Advisory Council

Tirlán’s ESG Summit brought together 200 employees who are directly involved in or responsible for sustainability in our organisation. We have tasked them to come on board and act as ambassadors for our messages, our activities, impacts and our plans for the future. They will work with the ESG team to bring all 2300 employees on this incredibly important journey together. Collectively, we can and will make a difference.