News

Christchurch Airport in New Zealand has taken a major step forward in its commitment to fight against climate change, becoming the first airport in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world to reach Level 4 Transformation of Airport Carbon Accreditation. This high achievement is evidence of the airport’s continued efforts to align its carbon management strategy with the global climate goals.

Proud to represent New Zealand’s finest, Steinlager is committed to taking action against climate change and excited to become the country’s first large scale beer brand to be Toitū carbonzero certified.

To reach this significant milestone, every step in Steinlager’s product life cycle has seen emissions reduced or offset, from growing the hops and barley, making the beer at the brewery, to bottles, caps, packaging and transport, right down to the length of time the beer will spend in the consumer’s fridge.

Toitū Envirocare’s new Toitū carbon assess platform enables large enterprises to collate and track the combined carbon emissions of their New Zealand-based suppliers and gives small businesses an easy and affordable way to measure their carbon emissions and benchmark against similar organisations.

A survey of employees at Suncorp New Zealand, one of the country’s largest insurance companies, has revealed that community and connection (79%) and collaboration and problem solving (66%) are the main drivers for employees wanting to return to the office at least part time following a period of working at home due to Covid-19.

The first retirement village operator to be Toitū carbonzero certified, Summerset’s climate action story shows the organisation’s commitment to continually reducing their environmental impacts.

he retirement village operator started its journey by committing to the Toitū carbonreduce certification programme in 2018.

A Toitū carbonreduce certification means Summerset measured their emissions, set a reduction plan, and got third-party verified as per international best-practice. Though this was a great start, it was only the first step.

The programme was a way for Summerset to start monitoring its emissions, increase efficiency and reduce operational costs. The certification process helped bring focus to key insights like emissions from the use of fertilisers, waste per person and business travel – all seen as opportunities to be more efficient.

Summerset’s sustainability initiatives quickly gained traction and the organisation decided to further bolster its commitment by offsetting their carbon emissions, gaining them the Toitū carbonzero certification.

While the spotlight last week was on the climate change risk reporting announcement from the Government, there was another significant announcement that went overlooked in New Zealand, but will change how you set credible and meaningful net-zero targets. Barbara Nebel has the details.

Even in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, the list of companies, investors, universities, and cities leading the Race to Zero continues to grow. For some, this translates to setting ambitious carbon reduction targets, while others opt for a net-zero target. But how can a net-zero claim based on offsets move the needle on climate change? What criteria does it have to meet?

The updated Energy End Use Database estimates national energy consumption broken down by fuel type, sector, end use and technology. National data is available for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 calendar years.

The database allows researchers, policy makers and the business sector to explore how energy is used by fuel type, sector, end use and technology. EECA has revised and improved data for a number of sectors in the database, including residential, and a range of industrial sectors.

Suncorp New Zealand has been named as a finalist for the Sustainable Business Network’s Climate Action Leader Award for 2020, for its commitment to renewable energy generation and reducing emissions.