From concept to customer impact: AIB’s Sustainability Taskforce on delivering greener solutions

AIB’s Sustainability for SMEs Taskforce recently won the Sustainability Team Award at the IOB Future of Finance Awards 2026 in recognition of their impactful work delivering greener solutions to customers.

The team introduced new sustainability resources and lending products, which have helped small businesses plan and advance their sustainability journey. New training for colleagues was also developed and delivered by the team, embedding sustainability best practices within everyday operations across the bank.

We speak with Edel Shine, Head of Sustainability Transformation, Group Strategy and Sustainability about her work with AIB’s Sustainability for SMEs Taskforce, transforming concepts to customer solutions, and her team’s shared sense of purpose.

Hi Edel, congratulations on winning the Sustainability Team Award at the IOB Future of Finance Awards 2026. Could you tell us about the role of your team in AIB?

We sit at the centre of AIB’s Sustainability Transformation programme – our role is to turn the Group’s sustainability strategy and regulatory expectations into practical delivery across the bank. That means working with colleagues across products, credit, risk, data, technology and frontline teams to develop green and transition propositions for customers and embed climate considerations into how we manage risk, and improve the quality of ESG data and reporting so the bank can measure progress and make better decisions. But honestly, a big part of what we do is bringing colleagues together to solve for enterprise challenges and cutting through complexity – taking technical requirements and making them into something colleagues and customers can actually work with.

What do you enjoy most about your work with the team?

The best part is seeing ideas move from concept to something real that colleagues and customers can actually use. Because we work across the organisation, no two days are the same – you might be in a workshop shaping a product change in the morning and reviewing training content or data improvements in the afternoon. I really enjoy the team dynamic: it’s very collaborative, and there’s a strong sense of shared purpose. Sustainability can feel like a huge challenge, but working with people who are genuinely committed – and who bring different skills to the table – makes the work really energising.

Your Award nomination highlights your work introducing the “Sustainability Business Loan” can you tell us about this initiative?

The Sustainability Business Loan came from a simple question – how do we make it easier for small businesses and agri customers to actually invest in sustainability? We wanted to give them a straightforward route to finance practical measures; renewables, energy efficiency, lower emissions vehicles, circular economy investments. What made it a good piece of work was that it genuinely joined the dots – customer need, credit policy, risk, governance and reporting all had to come together. It launched in July 2025 and is an important initiative the team are really proud of.

How has the product made a positive impact since its launch?

The impact that matters most to us is real world: are businesses actually investing in measures to reduce emissions and improve their resilience? That’s the goal.

But what’s been equally encouraging is the shift in conversation. Relationship teams now have a concrete, practical product to meet customers’ sustainability needs – it’s no longer a separate topic, it’s part of the everyday business discussion. In the early months alone, we saw high demand for the product which tells us the demand is real.

You launched an online educational resource to support SMEs on their sustainability journey. What inspired you to introduce this practical support and guidance?

It came from listening to and engaging with our customers. Our SME customers kept telling us the same thing – they want to act on sustainability, but they’re stretched, they don’t always know where to start and a lot of the information out there is technical or jargon-heavy.

SME Steps to Sustainability was our answer to that. Short, practical, plain language guidance focused on steps businesses can actually take. Funding is important but so is knowledge, confidence and capability - so we wanted to complement the finance side with something practical. The idea is that when a customer sits down with their relationship manager, that conversation is more informed and useful. It sits alongside other supports like the AIB Green Living Hub – all pointing in the same direction.

Your team also led the development and delivery of new sustainability training for colleagues. How has sustainability training evolved in recent years and what is driving that change?

A few years ago, sustainability training was largely about awareness – why it matters, what the broad direction of travel is. That was necessary then but it’s not sufficient anymore. What’s changed is that colleagues now need to understand how sustainability shows up in their specific role – in products, in customer conversations, in credit decisions, and risk management. And critically they’ve got to be able to evidence what they’ve done. That shift is being driven by a combination of customer demand, rapidly increasing regulation and a growing recognition that good ESG data and decision making are essential for long-term performance.

Our approach has been to make training practical: what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to embed sustainability into ‘business as usual’ rather than treating it as an add-on. That includes our mandatory ilearn course for all colleagues plus role-specific guidance for frontline and credit teams on things like how to classify green and transition lending correctly and how to quickly signpost customers to the right supports.

What was it like winning an IOB Future of Finance Award in recognition of your work in sustainability?

It’s a huge honour and it meant so much to the team – genuinely. So much of what this team does happens quietly in the background. It’s detailed, cross-functional work where success often looks like a process that now runs smoothly or a conversation a colleague feels confident having with a customer. It doesn’t always come with a headline. So having IOB recognise it was a real boost – not just for the team but as a reminder that this kind of work matters. We’re proud of the win, but if anything, it just makes us want to keep pushing.

What excites you about the future of financial services?

What excites me most is that we’re moving past the “why sustainability matters” conversation and into the “how we actually do this” phase – and that’s where financial services can play an important role.

Better ESG data, clearer standards and smarter technology mean banks will be able to support customers with much more tailored solutions - whether that’s a household retrofit, an SME improving efficiency or a larger transition project. Done well, finance can reward positive change and help build more resilient businesses. That feels like meaningful work to be part of.

IOB Future of Finance Awards

AIB’s Sustainability for SMEs Taskforce won the Sustainability Team Award at the IOB Future of Finance Awards 2026. Learn more about the IOB Future of Finance Awards 2026 winners here.