Signatory News

The first retirement village operator to be Toitū carbonzero certified, Summerset’s climate action story shows the organisation’s commitment to continually reducing their environmental impacts.

he retirement village operator started its journey by committing to the Toitū carbonreduce certification programme in 2018.

A Toitū carbonreduce certification means Summerset measured their emissions, set a reduction plan, and got third-party verified as per international best-practice. Though this was a great start, it was only the first step.

The programme was a way for Summerset to start monitoring its emissions, increase efficiency and reduce operational costs. The certification process helped bring focus to key insights like emissions from the use of fertilisers, waste per person and business travel – all seen as opportunities to be more efficient.

Summerset’s sustainability initiatives quickly gained traction and the organisation decided to further bolster its commitment by offsetting their carbon emissions, gaining them the Toitū carbonzero certification.

While the spotlight last week was on the climate change risk reporting announcement from the Government, there was another significant announcement that went overlooked in New Zealand, but will change how you set credible and meaningful net-zero targets. Barbara Nebel has the details.

Even in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, the list of companies, investors, universities, and cities leading the Race to Zero continues to grow. For some, this translates to setting ambitious carbon reduction targets, while others opt for a net-zero target. But how can a net-zero claim based on offsets move the needle on climate change? What criteria does it have to meet?

The updated Energy End Use Database estimates national energy consumption broken down by fuel type, sector, end use and technology. National data is available for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 calendar years.

The database allows researchers, policy makers and the business sector to explore how energy is used by fuel type, sector, end use and technology. EECA has revised and improved data for a number of sectors in the database, including residential, and a range of industrial sectors.

Suncorp New Zealand has been named as a finalist for the Sustainable Business Network’s Climate Action Leader Award for 2020, for its commitment to renewable energy generation and reducing emissions.

New Zealand companies aiming for 100% renewable energy can now use energy certificates to achieve their ambitions.

The global RE100 initiative now recognises the New Zealand Energy Certificate System (NZECS), meaning that New Zealand businesses can purchase energy certificates to meet their RE100 commitment of sourcing 100% renewable electricity.

Suncorp New Zealand is one New Zealand business that has adopted a Certified Renewable Energy product through Meridian Energy.

Leading agritech and herd improvement cooperative LIC has launched a new fund to support innovations with the potential to positively impact New Zealands valuable dairy sector. LIC has launched an early-stage investment fund, named the LIC AgCelerator

Electric truck, bus and bike projects are sharing in a $3.2 million government funding allocation.
The eighth round of the low emission vehicles contestable fund has been announced by energy and resources minister Dr Megan Woods with 24 successful applicants.

Recipients contribute a total $5m themselves under the fund administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

Z Energy chief executive, and CLC convenor, Mike Bennetts – the first guest on Stuff’s One Hot Minute video and podcast series – sets a challenge for the next Government.

It was part of the company’s move to renewable energy and to reduce emissions as it worked towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Clemenger Group New Zealand, which includes Colenso BBDO and Porter Novelli, has been award a Toitū carbonreduce certification, awarded to those making a viable effort to reduce their carbon footprint.

The group went under an evaluation which showed where it sat in terms of its footprint, and provided active measures the group could take to reduce it.

Jim Gall, CEO, says this is the next best step to ensure they have not only their clients needs in mind, but the country’s as well.

Billions of dollars of industrial buildings face becoming ‘stranded assets’ warns a new report by the Australian and New Zealand Green Building Councils today.

Green Star in focus: The case for sustainable industrial buildings warns of the increasing risk of significant industrial assets becoming stranded if they can’t show that they are low or zero carbon.

The report finds that new Green Star certified industrial buildings produce 66% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than standard buildings and shows that a minimal 2% upfront cost to support green design can result, on average, in lifecycle savings of 20% of total construction costs.

The report underscores that the technology, design, materials and expertise are available now to build more sustainable buildings which will meet investors’ growing demand for future-proofed investments that uphold environmental and social governance principles.

Fonterra is one step away from pushing the go button on its first factory to convert from coal to wood pellet energy.

The dairy company’s Te Awamutu plant in the Waikato is putting the finishing touches on the $11 million power source conversion which could be used as a blueprint for its other factories around the country.

It was part of the company’s move to renewable energy and to reduce emissions as it worked towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The brewery behind Heineken, Monteith’s and Tui has big plans to cut its carbon footprint.

Between the arrival of the ingredients and the departure of the product, each litre of beer or cider produces the equivalent of 0.076 kilograms of carbon dioxide. By the end of the decade, DB Breweries wants to slash that figure in half.

All up, the brewer’s processes emitted 8,149 tonnes of carbon dioxide last year, according to its just-released sustainability report – roughly what’s produced when 1045 passengers fly return from Auckland to Heathrow. Compared with 2018, the company shaved 1,032 tonnes (or 11 per cent) off its production footprint.