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SBC Hot Seat with Shannil Varma (CLC Manager)
This week, we've got Shannil Varma, Manager of the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC), in the hot seat. Shannil's role sits within the Climate and Nature team at SBC (which is the secretariat organisation for CLC), and he oversees all the day-to-day operations and...

Climate Leaders Coalition re-commits to ambitious climate action with new convenor
The Climate Leaders Coalition welcomes Genesis CEO Malcolm Johns as the Coalition’s new convenor, succeeding Spark CEO Jolie Hodson MNZM. Since 2018, the CEO-led Coalition, made up of 87 signatories and accounting for around 30 percent of New Zealand’s GDP, has helped...

CLC Steering Group Convenor Jolie Hodson receives King’s Birthday Honours
We are so proud to see Spark New Zealand CEO and CLC Steering Group Convenor Jolie Hodson recognised earlier this week in the King’s Birthday Honours, alongside many other incredible New Zealanders. Jolie, your leadership of the Climate Leaders Coalition has helped...

CLC and SBC welcome inquiry into bipartisan adaptation framework
SBC and CLC welcome Friday’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand, which is consistent with the recommendations we have made in our pre-election policy priorities paper. “Such a...
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First Gas invests millions to use biogas, but delays green hydrogen trial
First Gas has committed to supply thousands of homes and businesses with biogas produced from organic waste but has had to delay a more ambitious ‘green’ hydrogen trial originally slated for this year.
First Gas commercial manager Ben Gerritsen said the company would spend about $6 million to $8m connecting its gas distribution network to a biogas plant that specialist firm Ecogas expects to finish building near Broadlands in the central North Island by about the middle of next year.

Fonterra – What COP26 means for co-op
Fonterra’s Amsterdam-based trade strategy and stakeholder affairs manager, Mark Casey, recently attended COP26 – the annual United Nations Convention on Climate in Glasgow. Here are his thoughts on this globally significant event and what it means for the Co-op.

Eastland Group – Port’s electric water truck a NZ first
Eastland Port is the proud owner of New Zealand’s first electric water truck, one of the largest road-legal electric trucks in the country.
The water truck is deployed daily to depress dust on the log yard and is an essential part of port operations.

Fonterra – Anchor turns on the milk tap in cafes
Fonterra is turning on milk taps in cafes, all in the name of sustainability.
Fonterra Brands New Zealand (FBNZ) is kicking off a trial which will see baristas making the same great coffee, but with a more sustainable pour, using ‘Anchor café milk taps’.

Trust Tairawhiti’s submission on the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan
While the region’s business leaders are urging the Government to go further in tackling the climate crisis, a new survey suggests half of our businesspeople have little interest in the issue.
One of Trust Tairawhiti’s key submission points on the Government’s consultation document to help draft New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) is that its draft emissions reduction budgets are “inadequate”.

Air New Zealand takes aim at climate change
Air New Zealand has laid out a clear plan to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, outlining the action it will take over the next decades to improve its sustainability. “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic grinding our business to …

Synlait – Unique partnership to enhance soil health and test regen ag practices
New research on farms across New Zealand will measure and provide farmers tools to enhance soil health, including identifying where regenerative agriculture practices can make a difference.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor today announced a unique partnership between food producers Synlait Milk and Danone, science provider AgResearch, and the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund. The project will study soil health on 10 farms in Waikato, Canterbury and Otago over five years, to determine the impacts of changes in soil health on production, farm resilience and the environment, including climate change.

NZ Green Investment Finance partners with NZ Post to accelerate EV transition
New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) and NZ Post have signed a $20 million financing agreement to accelerate the transition of the NZ Post fleet and its delivery contractors’ vehicles, to electric vans (E-Vans) or low emissions vehicles (LEVs).

NZ Post to pilot electric Mercedes-Benz vans
NZ Post will evaluate a combination of fully electric Mercedes-Benz eSprinter and eVito delivery vans in its fleet in 2022 prior to a full market launch later in the year.

Auckland Council – Mayor Goff outlines billion-dollar climate action package
An ambitious $1 billion climate action package to reduce carbon emissions and deliver more buses, ferries, cycling and walking and urban tree canopy is the signature policy in Mayor Phil Goff’s proposal for Auckland Council’s Annual Budget 2022/23, released today, 1 December 2021.

Westpac – Solar set to have its day in the sun
New Zealand needs a lot more renewable energy to power our future, and we’re already seeing a wave of new projects that include significant innovation and diversification of our energy sector.
However, getting projects off the ground can be a complex exercise that requires collaboration across science, engineering, construction and finance — and banks have a critical role to play in helping this happen.

Christchurch Airport – $100m ‘world-leading’ solar plant will be 50 times bigger than any in New Zealand
New Zealand’s biggest solar power plant will produce enough electricity to power 30,000 homes, and allow planes to pull up and recharge.
The $100 million plant will cover the equivalent of 262 rugby fields at Christchurch Airport. Alongside it will go green fuel production, data centres and vertical farming.
Announced on Wednesday, the whole precinct will be known as Kōwhai Park. It will be built on 400 hectares of airport land just west of the airport’s runways and terminal, and be scaled up over 30 years.