Signatory News

New technology that sees electric vehicles supplying electricity to homes and businesses is being introduced in the Bay of Plenty and Tairāwhiti Gisborne, thanks to a partnership between Vector, Eastland Network and Horizon Networks.

The Vehicle to Home (“V2H”) essentially transforms electric vehicles in to mobile batteries, capable of transporting energy wherever it’s needed – be it homes, businesses or appliances, opening up exciting opportunities for customer self-sustainability and network resilience.

Oxygen Consulting today joins 101 other organisations committed to reducing carbon emissions, becoming a signatory of the New Zealand Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC).

The CLC was launched in July 2018 to promote business leadership and collective action on the issue of climate change.

The Minister for Climate Change has congratulated New Zealand’s Climate Leaders Coalition on its milestone in now having signed up 100 members.
“This is an incredible achievement considering the Coalition was born out of the vision of some 60 business leaders less than a year ago,” James Shaw said.

Westpac New Zealand has become the first New Zealand bank to raise funding through the issuance of a green bond.

The 5 year green bond issued by Westpac raised €500 million ($860million) from European investors, to support the funding of climate change solutions.

Reflecting continued growth in international green capital markets, the transaction attracted €1.1billion of interest, across 83 investors, and 20 countries.

Christchurch’s autonomous vehicle trial is changing up a gear with today’s introduction of New Zealand’s first Smart Shuttle.

The second stage of the ongoing Autonomous Vehicle (AV) trial on private roads at Christchurch Airport will now centre on the new vehicle, which went public today at the airport.

Chief Executive Malcolm Johns says it’s time to ride the future.

After nine years of progressively working on environmental initiatives, all 64 Toyota and Lexus dealerships around New Zealand have achieved Enviro-Mark Diamond certification.

Enviro-Mark Diamond certified organisations have a robust environmental management system (EMS) in place to identify significant impacts, develop internal plans to prevent or reduce those impacts, and find opportunities for improvement. The Diamond level exceeds the requirements of ISO 14001, one of the world’s most recognised environmental standards.

Former US Vice President Al Gore has appointed 40 New Zealanders as “apprentices” of his global climate change movement.

The Climate Reality Project, which was founded after the release of Gore’s 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, appoints and trains “Climate Reality Leaders” from around the world to spearhead efforts in their local communities.

With the release of the Zero Carbon Bill, Flick CEO Steve O’Connor worries that our zero carbon ambitions will be impeded by an electricity market that’s not working as it should.

Right now, we’re sandwiched between two pieces of policy work that have the potential to shape fundamental outcomes in the electricity industry: the recently-announced Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill and the final recommendations of the Electricity Price Review panel.

Last week, four members of our expert team; Sophia White, Ronja Lidenhammar, Kate Ellingham and Bronwyn Cook, were honoured to attend former US Vice President Al Gore’s brainchild The Climate Reality Project Leadership Corps training in Brisbane, Australia.

Kiwi Property has flicked the switch on 672 solar panels at Northlands Mall in Christchurch as part of New Zealand’s largest solar power programme. The leading property company is partnered with Meridian Energy to install almost 2500 rooftop solar panels on its shopping centres – in Christchurch at Northlands, at the Plaza in Palmerston North, The Base in Hamilton and Lynn Mall in Auckland.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has this morning fulfilled his pledge of planting a million trees in this term of council.

The Mayor planted the millionth tree – a Puriri – at a public planting event at Totara Park in Manukau alongside more than 250 volunteers, mana whenua representatives and partners including the Department of Corrections and Te Uru Rakau – Forestry NZ.

Fresh from the three day Australian Climate Change Conference with Al Gore, Meridian CFO Mike Roan says it’s time to step up.
“I like to think of myself as an eternal optimist. And, as a Dad, I’m conscious of the future our children will face from the actions (and inaction) my generation is responsible for.

If there’s one thing I gained from this conference, it was the absolute clarity of what we must achieve – for our sake and for the sake of our planet. We are incredibly lucky to be at a juncture in time where we can make a difference.