Burðardygt Vinnulív
‍The Faroese Sustainable
Business Initiative

In 2021, Burðardygd set up and steered the award-winning Faroese Sustainable Business Initiative - Burðardygt Vinnulív, a small CEO network of businesses in the Faroe Islands. Upon completion of the project, in 2024, the Faroese Employers’ Association started a larger sustainability network for all of its members, so the project was discontinued, and the work continued under a new organisation.

The project’s purpose was to catalyse the green transition through collaboration and sustainable business practice. We worked collaboratively on key projects we believed would impact the whole system in the Faroe Islands as well as individually to build strategic plans which aligned with scientific recommendations on climate and nature.

Key highlights from the project:
  • Winning the 2023 edie International Sustainability Leadership Award for Partnership and Collaboration.
  • Over 50 sessions (on climate, nature and circularity, sustainable finance, research, effective governance, communications, reporting etc.) with support from leading sustainability experts and leading companies.
  • Collaborating with the Faroese Environment Agency to create a GHG calculator for the Faroe Islands.
  • Funding research in collaboration with waste management companies.
  • Actively engaging with the Government and other national bodies.
  • Media appearances and public presentations to promote business action on climate and nature.
  • Numerous sessions with the Faroese Employers Association and their associations.
  • Meetings with the Ministry and other government organisations to update and lobby.
Key results from the project:
  • 90% of companies surveyed at the end of the project had a sustainability strategy and discussed this regularly with the Board of Directors.
  • 100% of companies setting targets to reduce their scope 1, 2 and (limited boundary) 3 GHG emissions, with 30% involved in GHG removal projects.
  • A collective scope 1 GHG reduction of 26% in the first year and 3% in the second year (data unavailable for the third and final year).
  • Seven companies with GHG targets validated by Science Based Targets Initiative.
  • 70% of companies started ESG reporting.