Guaranteed Irish selected as Ireland’s SDG Champion for 2025–2027

Guaranteed Irish selected as Ireland’s SDG Champion for 2025–2027.

Guaranteed Irish is proud to announce that we have been selected as Ireland’s SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Champion for the 2025–2027 cycle, appointed by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O’Brien TD.

[Minister quote to be inserted here – to lead the article]

The SDG Champions Programme is an Irish Government initiative that recognises organisations demonstrating leadership in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and embedding them meaningfully into their operations, culture, and external engagement. Guaranteed Irish joins a cohort of organisations committed to driving practical, measurable progress towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient Ireland.

A trusted platform for sustainable business

Guaranteed Irish represents over 2,300 businesses across all sectors, collectively employing more than 120,000 people nationwide. For over 51 years, the Guaranteed Irish symbol has been recognised as a mark of trust—supporting businesses that contribute positively to Ireland’s economy and communities.

Since 2022, sustainability and the SDGs have been formally embedded within our organisational strategy. While we place particular focus on SDGs 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and 13 (Climate Action), our diverse membership and initiatives also contribute across a wider range of Goals, including SDGs 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 5 (Gender Equality), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and 15 (Life on Land).

Turning alignment into action

Our selection as an SDG Champion reflects a practical, structured approach to engaging businesses with the SDGs—not as a reporting exercise, but as a tool for action.

This includes:

• Integrating SDG alignment into our membership criteria, application process, and three-year renewal cycle
• Providing members with practical guidance, KPIs, and implementation tools through our Sustainability Roadmap, Sustainability HUB and SDGs Guideline.
• Delivering sector-specific initiatives such as the Guaranteed Irish House and Guaranteed Irish Gifts, translating the SDGs into tangible outcomes for local supply chain, innovation, local employment and climate action.
• Using our campaigns, training, and events to foster ongoing dialogue, accountability, and peer learning.
  
• Planting the Guaranteed Irish Forest to enhance biodiversity, promote community wellbeing and sequester carbon. 
• Embedding ESG practices within our own organisation, with a focus on quality employment, staff learning, and low-carbon ways of working, as part of our ongoing SDG alignment.

Commitment to leadership and accountability

Quote from Clémence Jamet, Head of Sustainability, Guaranteed Irish
“This recognition is a testament to the commitment of our team and our members to embedding sustainability into how business is done in Ireland. Becoming an SDG Champion strengthens our mandate to lead, convene, and support businesses in turning ambition into action—while holding ourselves accountable to the same standards we promote.”

As an SDG Champion, Guaranteed Irish will continue to use its national platform to raise awareness of the Goals, support businesses at different stages of their sustainability journey, and contribute to collective action across Ireland’s business community.

Guaranteed Irish, Supporting Business that Supports Ireland.

More sustainability tools, guidance, and case studies are available on the Guaranteed Irish Sustainability Hub. 

Established in 2019, the SDG Champions Programme was developed to raise public awareness of the SDGs and to demonstrate, through the examples provided by the SDG Champions, that everyone in society can make a contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The role of an SDG Champion is to act as an advocate and promoter of the SDGs and as a good practice example of how an organisation can contribute to the SDGs and integrate the SDGs into their work and activities.

Strategic Objective 3 of Ireland's Second SDG National Implementation Plan 2022-2024 (NIP) is 'Greater partnerships for the Goals'; the SDG Champions Programme is a key mechanism towards achieving this. Action 35 and related measures of the NIP relate to the SDG Champions Programme and its relaunch last year.

The key message of the Champions Programme is that the SDGs are for everyone in society and that everyone can make a contribution to their success.

Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O'Brien opened the call for applications to the 2025 – 2027 SDG Champions Programme in June 2025.