Signatory News

“Being part of the Climate Leaders Coalition represents our commitment to view climate change as an opportunity to innovate and create a positive future for New Zealanders,” said Suncorp New Zealand CEO Paul Smeaton. “Climate change has a direct impact on Suncorp New Zealand’s operations and we have first-hand knowledge of how it is affecting our customers through things like extreme weather events. I am thrilled that we will be collaborating with other businesses to find ways to address climate change.”

Projects funded and pioneered over the past three years by Waitematā Local Board have revealed the low-carbon potential for the ward. As part of the board’s plan to ensure that the natural environment is valued, protected and enhanced, funding has been allocated to projects looking at low-carbon lifestyles and multi-unit dwellings, reducing food waste from businesses and the Waitematā Low Carbon Network.

Fonterra’s Brightwater milk processing plant in Nelson is now co-firing on wood after the site’s newly converted boiler was officially switched on by the Minister of Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods, today.

Countdown, in partnership with WEL Networks, has today installed three charging sites at five of its Waikato supermarkets – a first for the retailer. Countdown’s General Manager Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Kiri Hannifin, said today’s launch was another step in the right direction towards the business meeting its commitment to help create a cleaner and greener Aotearoa, New Zealand.

When it comes to tackling climate change it’s often hard to know where to start, it’s such a massive subject and it’s easy to get lost in all that it entails. Communication around it seems to come in ebbs and flows as well, and as a business we have always tried to maintain the ‘flows’, as sustainability, lowering our carbon emissions and reducing our carbon footprint have been long-term goals of ours. But we still ask ourselves what else can we do to make a difference, and even though we recently became re-certified as a CEMARS certified business and have been certified for 8 years now (read our blog post), it’s still a work in progress and it’s a constant, ever-evolving process for us.

We are thrilled to have achieved our carboNZero certification again, after becoming the first Zoo in the world to be carboNZero certified in 2013. As part of our carboNZero certification, we’ve made a commitment to continually work on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past six years, we’ve implemented a range of initiatives to cut back on our power use and waste generation.

Auckland Council has recommitted to membership of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group with the council’s Environment and Community Committee endorsing Auckland’s reapplication for C40 affiliation.

Councillor Penny Hulse, chair of the Environment and Community Committee, says the C40 report stresses that cities and nations must commit to bold and coordinated climate action in the next few years.

Transport has a key role to play in New Zealand’s low-carbon future. thinkstep has published a new report presenting four future visions for New Zealand in which the carbon footprint of transport is reduced by up to 90% of 2015 levels by 2050 through a combination of new vehicle technologies and behavioural changes.

Diverting food waste from landfills can help companies reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Courtney Simpson, Group Manager Environment, tells the Sustainable Business Council how SKYCITY Auckland diverted the equivalent of 142 buses of food from landfill, reducing their emissions by 15% in one year.

But what does that mean? How (and when) did Flick become carboNZero certified? And what has Flick done to reduce emissions?

Waste Management today launched our sustainability strategy called For Future Generations which provides the foundation for the future sustainability of our company and the communities in which we operate across New Zealand. In developing For Future Generations, Waste Management engaged external and internal stakeholders to identify those issues considered material for us to address in order to be sustainable for the future.

A group of local and international businesses has joined forces to stop mountains of e-waste being created by the rising number of large lithium-ion batteries in New Zealand. Led by energy company Vector, the Battery Leaders Group aims to find circular economy solutions for the batteries that are powering everything from electric vehicles to Vector Lights when they reach their end of life.