News

Vector is pleased to learn today that its submission for co-funding of a range of smart chargers on Waiheke Island has been approved by the Government’s Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund (LEVCF), administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

Counties Manukau Health (CMH) has slashed nearly a third of the energy use at one of its biggest clinics, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in operational costs per year.

We’re delighted to announce a new partnership between Enviro-Mark Solutions and Tourism Industry Aotearoa, which will help tourism operators measure, manage and reduce their climate and environmental impacts.

Tourism is New Zealand’s biggest export earner and contributes $16.2 billion to the economy (NZ’s foreign exchange earnings in year ended March 2018). The industry is looking to a more sustainable future, and our new partnership means that tourism operators will have the tools to be able to action to minimise their impacts. The new partnership will see TIA members new to the Enviro-Mark®, CEMARS® or carboNZeroCertTM certification programmes benefit from a reduced fee.

We believe in ‘lifting the vibe’ by doing the right thing, so we worked with Enviro-Mark Solutions, a government-owned environmental certifications company, over a 5 month period, gathering data about our operations and measuring our emissions in all areas of the business, including freight, fuel, and power usage. We were independently audited in July 2019 and received our carboNZero certification! The carboNZero programme is accredited by the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) and was the world’s first to be accredited under ISO 14065. Its certification mark is recognised in over 60 countries through the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

The lack of a consistent supply of alternative fuels is making the transition away from coal more difficult than expected for South Canterbury companies.

Larger companies in the region say they are committed to the Government’s zero emissions plan but sourcing replacements such as biomass and natural gas remains a huge challenge in the South Island.

ANALYSIS: No-one is better at pointing out environmental failings than the media.

New Zealand’s newspapers, TV and radio stations have highlighted some of the most shocking environmental scandals to hit our country, from dirty dairy farming and plastic water-bottling to polluting wine producers and illegal dumping.

Stuff is introducing the country’s carbon level readings to its daily weather report.

The daily readings feature on the weather page in all of Stuff’s metropolitan and regional newspapers from today, making Stuff the first New Zealand media organisation to regularly provide such information to readers.

Enviro-Mark Solutions has announced the winners of its 2019 Awards, which recognise organisations that have achieved outstanding reductions in carbon emissions in recent years using the carboNZeroCertTM and CEMARS® programmes, as well as exceptional environmental performance through the Enviro-Mark® programme.

The winning organisations from the major award categories have each reduced their carbon footprint by at least 30% on their base year figures, with two organisations reducing their carbon footprint by more than 75% compared to base year.

Thousands of dairy farmers will soon be given an accurate picture of their farm’s greenhouse gas emissions.

In a New Zealand first, Fonterra will provide a unique emissions profile to each of its farmers from next spring.

The profile will help farmers understand the sources of greenhouse gas emissions on their farms and what action can be taken to cut them.

Last week we asked New Zealand CEOs whether greed is still good. In the second part of our series on the ethics of NZ businesses, we put them on the spot over whether short term profits trump long term environmental impacts.

Last month Eastland Group and Eastland Community Trust signed up to the Climate Leaders Coalition agreement to tackle climate change by reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. Andrew Ashton delves deeper into how that will be achieved and how it will put Tairawhiti at the tip of the spear in the fight against climate change.

We’re seeing more and more corporations, companies and councils developing environmental strategies to combat climate change, now iwi are jumping aboard. At Ngāi Tahu’s inaugural climate change symposium issues like coastal erosion, marae resilience, mahinga kai and wai were topics of discussion. Hania Douglas reports.