A PIONEERING and award-winning Kinsale company focused on sustainability is to close after eight years in operation due to shifts worldwide on sustainability.

Change By Degrees, which was founded by Dr Tara Shine and Madeleine Murray in 2018, announced that the business, which specialises in helping people and organisations to build their skills to meet sustainability targets, is to close down.

The company cited policy changes at European level and political headwinds internationally which have pushed sustainability down the agenda as the reason why the board made the decision to plan an orderly wind down of the business.

‘In the eight years since Madeline and Tara set up Change By Degrees we have shared information, guided teams to create sustainability strategies, engaged employees and inspired leaders to think and act differently,’ they posted online.

‘What started as a conversation after a sea swim turned into an award-winning, B Corp-certified business we are very proud of. Your engagement online and by partnering with us, attending events and learning alongside us made that possible.’

During the past eight years Change By Degrees educated over 25,000 individuals on sustainability and collaborated with nearly 300 organisations across Ireland, Europe, Australia and the US.

They also delivered 18 Climate Club webinars to a global audience and provided on the ground insights from the Climate Change COPS, community initiative and business events and developed more than 35 hours of engaging digital learning across 28 courses.

Change By Degrees was no stranger to awards having received multiple accolades including Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (2018) and STEM Woman of the Year (2024).

They thanked people for their support and continued commitment to sustainability.

‘Your voice and your actions are needed now more than ever; shaping your home, your community, your workplace and our collective future.’

Just last year, the company secured €800,00 in seed funding while four years ago Dr Shine was appointed to a senior UN role in relation to climate change.