National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company delivering the new future-proofed, high-speed Fibre-to-the-Home network under the National Broadband Plan on behalf of the Government, has today published its inaugural Annual Sustainability Report, providing the company’s roadmap for what CEO Peter Hendrick has described as “a future where our business thrives alongside the well-being of our planet and the betterment of society.”
Widely recognised as one of the most ambitious telecom projects in the world, the National Broadband Plan is the biggest investment ever to be made in rural Ireland. Spanning 96% of the country’s land mass, the rollout will serve over 1.1 million people once completed, and NBI recently announced that it is on budget, ahead of schedule, and continuing to exceed the original policy objectives for the project.
Publishing its first Annual Sustainability Report, NBI publicly recognises that it must leverage its business policy expertise, data and national presence to help drive inclusive economic growth, expand access to opportunity, accelerate sustainability and climate solutions, and bridge the divide between rural and urban Ireland.
Peter Hendrick, CEO of NBI, commented: “Since our establishment, we have recognised the potential for environmental, social and governance risks, and we work to identify and manage them, just as we manage risk in all areas of our business. Equally important, we believe companies like ours have an obligation to put their businesses to work for all of their stakeholders and shareholders. For example, NBI aims to develop first steps on the road to net-zero and having achieved ISO 50001 (which focuses exclusively on energy), we are committed to ongoing and sustained improvements in energy efficiency as well as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”
Included in the report is NBI’s pledge to be carbon neutral for its own direct operations as soon as 2030, with a roadmap to becoming a net zero business across all its direct and indirect operations. The report also states NBI’s commitments to a wide range of areas which have previously been highlighted as key challenges in the infrastructure sector, including health and safety and gender equality. As a founding member of the Irish chapter of the Women’s Infrastructure Network, NBI has been at the forefront of championing a more diverse workforce and has continued to highlight this in its ESG goals, which it reinforces in the report.
Hendrick concluded: “Embracing this paradigm shift isn’t just about meeting regulatory obligations; it’s about fostering long-term value creation and societal well-being. Companies must recognise sustainability, not just as a compliance burden, but as a strategic imperative, and at NBI we’re delighted to be making our commitments public with the first of our annual sustainability reports.” View NBI’s Sustainability Report 2023 here /2023-sustainabilty-report
