Irish Distillers launches Enviroflex partnership with Bank of Ireland providing sustainability-linked loans to tillage farmers.
For the first time tillage farmers in Ireland will be able to get discountable flexible sustainability-linked finance.
Irish Distillers is partnering with Bank of Ireland to offer Enviroflex sustainability-linked loans for the tillage sector.
“Irish Distillers has a proud history of buying quality grain from Irish farmers to produce our whiskeys and we are committed to working in partnership with our growers to respond to the challenges of climate change”
This is the latest in a wide range of successful Enviroflex partnerships led by Bank of Ireland across the dairy sector in the past year.
Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme
As a result sustainability-linked financing is now available to participants of Irish Distillers’ Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme.
“Irish Distillers has a proud history of buying quality grain from Irish farmers to produce our whiskeys and we are committed to working in partnership with our growers to respond to the challenges of climate change and to promote sustainable agriculture through initiatives such as our Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme,” said Graham Caulwell, head of Sustainability and Compliance at Irish Distillers.
“We are proud to partner with Bank of Ireland to provide further funding options to tillage farmers to strengthen our shared goal of improving our collective environmental footprint through new practices and innovative technologies and supporting the economic viability of barley growing in Ireland.”
The Sustainable Green Spring Barley Scheme, launched in 2020, is a tailored sustainability programme for barley growers to support the long-term viability of the spring barley sector in Ireland by incentivising and rewarding growers for delivering environmental and biodiversity initiatives on their farms.
The programme is founded on three major commitments:
- Enhancing biodiversity on Irish tillage farms.
- Improving the sustainability of the spring barley sector
- Supporting farmers in reducing their carbon footprint
To qualify for an additional financial premium as part of this scheme, barley growers are required to implement eight essential measures, and must also choose an additional three to four measures which specifically have a direct and positive impact on biodiversity.
“Bank of Ireland is delighted to launch this new Enviroflex partnership with Irish Distillers, the first time these loans have been made available to tillage farmers, and further supporting our stated ambition to make this product more widely available across the agriculture industry,” said Eoin Lowry, Bank of Ireland’s head of Agri Sector.
“A vast number of dairy farmers looking to enhance their farms sustainability have already availed of Enviroflex loans, and we now look forward to working with Irish Distillers to reward tillage farmers who implement more sustainable farming practises with discounted finance options.”
Main image at top: Ciara Egan, Sustainability and Responsibility Specialist at Irish Distillers; Eoin Lowry, Head of Agri Sector at Bank of Ireland; Susan Maher, Agri Development Manager at Bank of Ireland; and Graham Caulwell, Head of Sustainability and Compliance at Irish Distillers
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