This report is provided by Ciara Feehely, Head of Fundraising & Communications, Vita:
Climate justice is, as we know, no longer an issue for governments to solve. Rather it is the responsibility not only of legislators, but of organisations and individuals as well. One such vehicle to enable all parties to effect change is through social impact investment, and Vita’s Green Impact Fund, launched in Ireland, in 2015, has proven to be very successful at reducing carbon while supporting over 300,000 of the world’s poorest people.
Vita CEO John Weakliam was recently invited to the prestigious Quinlan Business School, part of Loyola University in Chicago, to present the Vita Green Impact Fund to an audience of social impact investors and climate mitigation financiers.
“Private enterprise in America is very open to the idea of investing in carbon – reducing activities,” said John Weakliam at the event.
“Traditional aid models can’t deliver on SDG targets while reducing carbon. In Vita we have worked closely with the Sisters of Mercy Western Province, Northern Ireland and the UK to create a platform that delivers these targets while reducing the burden of poverty on women and children in Africa.”
Vita now plans to scale up the fund to a minimum of €20 million by the early New Year, with a carbon reduction of approx. 4 billion tonnes impacting on the lives of 3 million people.
