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Alistair Campbell and his son Duncan run Earnscleugh Station, a high country farm in the heart of Central Otago. They’d be too modest to tell you, but they produce some of New Zealand’s highest quality merino sheep and beef studs. Recently they’ve set an ambitious challenge for themselves – to meet the highest standards for animal welfare and sustainability under the NZ Merino ZQRX index platform.

If you’re going to sell red meat…

Then Silver Fern Farms is showing the best way.

Consider: Zero carbon Angus beef. Back to that in a moment.

In recent years SFF has been earnest about getting on the right side of environment-minded consumers.

Toyota plans to spend 1.5 trillion yen (NZ$19.3 billion) on the supply and development of batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles by 2030, joining other global automakers boosting investments in anticipation of greater demand.

Four ‘smart ideas’ from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington researchers, about everything from 3D data storage and improving power infrastructure reliability, to undersea volcanoes and interactive design, have been funded in the 2021 Endeavour Fund.

One of the country’s largest forestry plantation owners, Aratu Forests, has signed a 90-year agreement with eLandNZ to plant native trees on unusable land, creating permanent buffers alongside waterways.

The partnership, brokered by law firm Anderson Lloyd, plans to stop forestry waste, such as logs, from being washed into waterways by planting native trees on otherwise unusable stretches of land across 33,000 hectares of forestry plantation, mostly in the Gisborne region, forestry law specialist Dan Williams​ said.

Leading Australasian brewer Lion has announced that it will dramatically reduce the two largest sources of plastic in its packaging – plastic shrink-wrap and plastic labels on beer bottles.

The decision will remove more than 630 tonnes of plastic per year from circulation – keeping it out of landfill and away from our oceans.

Regulations have failed to keep pace with the expansion of carbon farming, a lawyer specialising in forestry says.

Dan Williams, a lawyer with Anderson Lloyd, says carbon farming is an emerging market where demand and interest is exceeding legislative control.

No business wants to have unnecessary expenditures, particularly after a year that has tested the reserves of many small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Internationally more companies are going green – not only to save the planet, but also to save money. Here in New Zealand, businesses are realising that to flourish in a Covid-adapted world they can make simple but genuine steps to reduce their carbon footprint and increase the flexibility, resilience, and efficiency of their organisation.

With so many options and information, it can seem daunting, but there are lots of quick and easy steps that SMEs can make.

One way to work out what’s best for your business is through the Climate Action Toolbox, a simple self-assessment tool to help reduce the carbon footprint of any business. Using the toolbox – which was developed by BNZ in partnership with Government, business, and industry groups – businesses go through a self-assessment to identify which areas are most relevant to them and can then choose from a range of specific actions to improve their climate impact.

Suncorp New Zealand has reported that its scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions for financial year 2021, were 49% lower than its baseline FY18 emissions.

This means that the company is ahead of its goal to achieve 22% reduction of scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2022, and is on track to achieve its published target of 51% reduction by 2030.

Kerbside rubbish and recycling are continuing as normal, but you can still take steps to reduce your waste and save money.

Consider composting

Keeping food waste out of landfill is one of the single biggest climate change interventions an individual can make. That’s why more and more Aucklanders are starting to compost at home.

If food waste were a country, it would be the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases. Each year, Aucklanders put about 100,000 tonnes of food waste into their rubbish bins. Diverting food from landfill is one of the single biggest climate change interventions an individual can make.

Dismayed (but not surprised) by the latest climate news, Ākina CEO Louise Aitken and Communications Manager Ed Watson sat down to think about what businesses could focus on as they work out how to operate in a way that’s better for the planet.