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When 60 CEOs signed up to the Climate Leaders Coalition in July 2018, much was made of the presence of the big players like Air New Zealand, Spark, Fonterra and Vector. The Spinoff caught up with the nimble smaller companies leading from the back.

Since the launch of the Climate Leaders Coalition last year, 82 CEOs have signed the joint statement committing their organisations to take voluntary action on climate change. Since then much focus has been on the big players, and just how committed they are to a carbon zero future that demands difficult questions of their status quo.

The global impacts of the changing climate will bring significant direct and indirect changes and challenges. For Watercare these include extreme weather events, prolonged dry periods, rising seas and increased coastal flooding.

Our climate change strategy sets out our future direction as we embark on a journey to operate a low carbon organisation that is resilient to climate impacts

In light of last month’s climate change action by high school pupils, Jen Rodgers, sustainable practice adviser at Otago Polytechnic, provides a stocktake of her institution’s initiatives in this area.

For Rob Campbell, Chair of SKYCITY Entertainment Group and Summerset Group, there are at least two reasons why Boards and Directors should endorse and support carbon measurement in their affiliated companies.

Living a carbon-free lifestyle can feel impossible, considering emissions are produced by everything from travelling to eating to heating buildings.

Each person’s carbon footprint – the amount of greenhouse gases your activities release – is different. A vegan’s emissions are likely to be lower than a meat eater’s on dining habits alone, but a meat eater who cycles to work will produce less carbon dioxide than a vegan who drives.

Meridian Energy’s Chief Executive Neal Barclay says that reducing gross fossil fuels must be the absolute priority for all New Zealand businesses. This is Meridian’s response to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) report ‘Farms, Forests and fossil fuels: The next great landscape transformation’.

“We agree that we must take action now with emissions reduction as the priority. Renewable electricity will provide the solution and this is staring us in the face,” says Neal.

Synlait announced today New Zealand’s first large-scale electrode boiler, located at its Dunsandel site in Canterbury, is fully commissioned and has been operational for the last two months.

“This is an exciting moment for Synlait. It’s a significant milestone in terms of reducing our energy footprint as part of our sustainability commitments,” says Synlait’s CEO, Leon Clement.

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.

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.