The Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund is one of the most practical funding mechanisms available to Irish businesses that want to invest in sustainability — and one of the most underutilised.
Many eligible businesses either don't know it exists, don't understand what it covers, or attempt to navigate the application process without the right preparation and find it more difficult than it needs to be.
This article explains what the Green Transition Fund is, what types of projects and consultancy it supports, how the funding works in practice, and what organisations need to have in place before they apply.
The Green Transition Fund is a government-backed funding programme administered by Enterprise Ireland, designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of Irish enterprise. It operates under Ireland's National Recovery and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union, and covers a range of supports from initial sustainability planning through to capital investment in carbon reduction technologies.
The fund has two main components. The Climate Planning Fund for Business helps organisations build the capability to develop plans for lower-carbon products, processes and business models — essentially funding the strategic thinking and consultancy work that comes before capital investment. The Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund supports larger capital investments in carbon abatement technologies for manufacturing businesses.
For most Irish SMEs engaging with sustainability for the first time, the Climate Planning Fund is the relevant starting point. It funds the kind of work that needs to happen before any meaningful sustainability strategy can be implemented — carbon footprinting, energy efficiency assessments, sustainability strategy development and environmental management system support.
The Climate Planning Fund for Business provides two levels of support. The Green Start grant funds a short consultancy engagement — up to seven days with an approved consultant — covering areas including carbon footprinting, energy efficiency, waste management, environmental management systems and sustainability action planning. The maximum grant is €5,000, funded at 80%, meaning the net cost to the business is approximately €1,300.
The Green Plus grant supports a more substantial consultancy project, providing up to 50% of costs to a maximum grant of €35,000. This is aimed at organisations ready to take a more strategic approach to sustainability — developing a comprehensive decarbonisation plan, undertaking a detailed energy audit, or implementing an environmental management system across the business.
The Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund supports capital investment of between €20,000 and €1 million in carbon abatement technologies for manufacturing businesses — industrial heat pumps, energy monitoring systems, process efficiency improvements and similar investments. Grant intensity is up to 50% for small enterprises, 40% for medium enterprises and 30% for large enterprises.
All Green Transition Fund projects must comply with the EU's "Do No Significant Harm" technical guidance, ensuring that funded activities don't create new environmental problems while addressing others.
Eligibility for Enterprise Ireland's Green Transition Fund applies to Enterprise Ireland client companies — businesses that are existing or potential clients of Enterprise Ireland. For the Green Start grant specifically, Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) operate a parallel programme for smaller businesses not yet engaged with Enterprise Ireland, making equivalent funding available to micro and small enterprises at a local level.
For the Capital Investment fund, eligibility is restricted to manufacturing businesses that are clients of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta.
If your business is not currently an Enterprise Ireland client and you're interested in the Green Transition Fund, the first step is to establish whether your business is eligible for Enterprise Ireland support — which typically requires being a manufacturing or internationally traded services company with growth ambitions. Your Local Enterprise Office is the alternative route for smaller businesses not meeting Enterprise Ireland's criteria.
The Green Transition Fund application process involves identifying the project you want to undertake, selecting an approved external consultant to deliver it, and submitting an application to Enterprise Ireland before the work begins. Starting work before grant approval is a common mistake that renders projects ineligible — the application must be approved first.
The application sets out what you propose to do, why, what you expect it to cost, and what the anticipated outcomes are in terms of emissions reduction, energy savings or sustainability improvement. A well-prepared application is specific about the current baseline, the objectives and the expected impact.
AD Sustainability is an approved supplier of consultancy services under the Green Transition Fund. This means that when an Irish business engages AD Sustainability for eligible sustainability consultancy work — including carbon footprinting, energy efficiency assessments, sustainability strategy development, and decarbonisation planning — that work can be funded through the Green Transition Fund, subject to eligibility and approval.
This matters practically. It means the cost of engaging with a sustainability consultant to develop a credible carbon reduction plan or energy efficiency strategy can be significantly offset by grant funding, making the work substantially more affordable for businesses that would otherwise hesitate at the upfront cost.
The most common difficulty organisations encounter when applying for the Green Transition Fund is not having a clear enough picture of their current baseline. Applications that can't articulate what the business's current energy use or carbon emissions are, and why the proposed project will improve them, tend not to be successful.
A second common issue is scope creep. Trying to include too many different objectives in a single application, which makes it harder to demonstrate a clear outcome. The strongest applications have a focused objective, a realistic scope of work and a credible expected impact.
Working with an approved consultant from the start of the process — not just to deliver the project, but to help scope and frame the application, significantly improves the quality of what's submitted and the likelihood of approval.
Receiving Green Transition Fund support is not the end of the process. The consultancy work is delivered, outcomes are documented, and in some cases, a follow-on investment may be appropriate to implement the recommendations. The real value of a Green Transition Fund project is not the report. It's what the organisation does with the insights and recommendations.
Organisations that use the Green Transition Fund to build genuine internal capability, understanding their carbon footprint, identifying their most significant reduction opportunities, putting measurement processes in place, are in a much stronger position than those that treat it as a funded piece of work to be completed and filed.
Niall Campbell, Owner of Breeac House Retreat in Dunfanaghy, went through the Green for Business programme — one of the fund's routes for smaller businesses.
That is precisely the kind of practical, fundable work the Green Transition Fund is designed to support, and the kind of outcome that builds the internal capability to act on what the assessment finds.
What is the Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund?
The Green Transition Fund is a government and EU-backed funding programme administered by Enterprise Ireland, designed to support Irish businesses in decarbonising their operations. It covers sustainability consultancy, energy efficiency assessments, carbon footprinting, sustainability strategy development and capital investment in carbon abatement technologies for eligible manufacturing businesses.
Who is eligible for the Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund?
Eligibility applies primarily to Enterprise Ireland client companies — existing or potential clients meeting Enterprise Ireland's criteria. Manufacturing businesses can also access the capital investment element through IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta. Smaller businesses not in scope for Enterprise Ireland can access equivalent funding through their Local Enterprise Office.
How much funding can businesses receive through the Green Transition Fund?
The Green Start grant covers up to €5,000 at 80% funding (net cost approximately €1,300) for a short consultancy engagement of up to seven days. The Green Plus grant provides up to 50% of costs to a maximum of €35,000 for more substantial consultancy projects. The Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund provides between €20,000 and €1 million for capital investment in carbon abatement, at grant intensities of 30–50% depending on company size.
What types of sustainability projects are supported by the Green Transition Fund?
Supported activities include carbon footprinting, energy efficiency assessments, sustainability action planning, environmental management system support, decarbonisation planning and — for capital investment — technologies such as industrial heat pumps, energy monitoring systems and process efficiency improvements. All projects must contribute to demonstrable emissions reductions.
How do I apply for the Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund?
Applications are submitted to Enterprise Ireland before the funded work begins — starting work before approval makes a project ineligible. The application sets out the project scope, objectives, costs and expected sustainability outcomes. Working with an approved consultant to scope and prepare the application significantly improves the quality of the submission.
Can consultancy services be funded through the Green Transition Fund?
Yes. Sustainability consultancy is a core eligible cost under the Climate Planning Fund for Business. This includes carbon footprinting, energy audits, sustainability strategy development and environmental management system support. AD Sustainability is an approved supplier under the fund, meaning eligible consultancy work delivered by the AD Sustainability team can be funded subject to approval.
If you'd like to explore whether your organisation is eligible for the Enterprise Ireland Green Transition Fund and what a funded project might look like, get in touch with AD Sustainability. As an approved supplier, we can guide you through the application process and deliver the consultancy work once approval is confirmed. Get in touch today.