Signatory News

Anyone who attended last year’s RTF Conference will recall Cameron Bagrie’s stark warning about the plethora of disruptive influences that are going to have an impact on New Zealand businesses in the coming years.

In an industry traditionally dominated by men, Malia Vehikite is young, female, and making a name for herself in the energy sector. Vehikite is working hard to help her organisation reduce energy waste and significant carbon emissions in the Strategy and Sustainability team at KiwiRail, as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) graduate programme.

Aucklanders could be suffering an equivalent of three months of extra-hot days within only a century’s time – with residents in southern and western suburbs likely to be hit the hardest.

A sweeping, first-of-its-kind assessment, released during a three-day city symposium this week, has laid bare Auckland’s possible future under climate change.

Big corporates are lining up to prove their carbon credentials, responding to a huge shift in public, and political opinion.

The Warehouse has gone carbon neutral by buying carbon credits and planting native trees to “offset” the carbon it emits selling us stuff.

Air New Zealand has signed up to the Dryland Carbon partnership with Genesis Energy and Z Energy to plant mainly “exotic” trees like radiata pine to offset emissions.

Digital services provider Spark is introducing Mini Countryman plugin hybrids (PHEVs) to its vehicle fleets – probably the first in Australasia to do so in bulk. The first 30 are due towards the end of March, with a further 40 also ordered, then another 60 or 80 leased PHEVs could
be added depending upon demand. It’s part of the company’s EV strategy co-ordinated by Marc Solomon, Spark’s sourcing business partner in charge of fleets.

Ricoh has become the 81st signatory of the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC). The company joins a group of New Zealand businesses who, collectively, represent more than half of New Zealand’s gross emissions, at least a quarter of private sector GDP and employ more than 150,000 New Zealanders. CLC members are committed to measuring and reporting their GHG emissions, setting targets and working with suppliers to reduce those emissions, to help keep global warming within 1.5 degrees.

New Zealand’s work to reduce carbon emissions crossed a new frontier last night with the launch of our first-ever gamified carbon calculator – FutureFit. FutureFit for business is a new sustainability tool with a staff-engagement twist. The aim is to empower staff to reduce their carbon footprints.

Climate Leaders Coalition signatories Air New Zealand, Z Energy, Contact Energy together with Genesis Energy have joined forces to establish a forestry portfolio to sequester carbon. The partnership is a great example of Coalition signatories coming together to mitigate climate change.

Dave Bryce started monitoring his family’s carbon dioxide emissions about 12 years ago. At the time, they were emitting something close to the average for a New Zealand family. These days, he and his wife are emitting about one-eighth of the emissions of an average family, he says.
Bryce knows this because he uses Landcare Research’s Household Emissions Calculator, a free online tool that captures electricity use, transport and household waste and estimates CO2 emissions in kilograms.

Naylor Love has made a genuine and profound commitment to be the leader in sustainable construction practices and the champion of sustainable construction products in New Zealand.
We’re delighted to announce that Naylor Love has joined the Climate Leaders Coalition, a group of 80 New Zealand businesses who have committed to tackling climate change and reducing carbon emissions.

The barriers to switching may not be as great as they seem.

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