News

Tairawhiti businesses are right behind the climate change strike on Friday.
Hikurangi Cannabis Company will send staff to support the cause, and the CEOs of Eastland Community Trust (ECT) and Eastland Group have also backed the protest.

The School Strike 4 Climate is being held around New Zealand, a week on from the world protest last Friday

Contact Energy has stepped up its commitment to help tackle climate change, by setting new ambitious emissions reduction targets. The new targets cement it among the first power companies in the world to have their targets verified to the highest
level of ambition for the energy industry by the leading authority, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

The Green Building Council has put out an ambitious roadmap that illustrates how to make all of New Zealand’s buildings and homes zero carbon.

I’m particularly proud that in New Zealand our private sector Climate Leaders’ Coalition collectively represents over 60% of our total emissions profile.

Having a network of business leaders committed to science based targets in line with the Paris Agreement creates incredible leverage and the opportunity to apply international best practice to dramatically reduce their emissions.

For years, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority has been one of the more soft-spoken and conservative government agencies.

Best known for its Energywise series of TV commercials, EECA was the friendly face that gently suggested people switch to LED bulbs or check their underfloor heating.

Synlait Milk’s emissions savings after 10 years of its electrode boiler at the Dunsandel plant will be equivalent of emissions from 9600 houses.

The change is part of the company’s ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas inventory, both in its own activity and the on-farm emissions of its farmers.

Off-farm it wants to reduce total greenhouse gas per kilo of product by 50% by 2028 from the 2017-18 base measurement of 1.13kg carbon dioxide equivalent.

New Zealand’s biggest electricity generators are embarking on an investment drive that could boost the country’s wind generation capacity by more than 70 per cent in coming years and lift geothermal power capacity by as much as 10 per cent.

Port Nelson recently joined New Zealand’s Climate Leaders Coalition, the 109th organisation to do so. It is the first business in Te Tauihu (Nelson, Marlborough, Tasman) to join. Membership is seen as a key step towards cutting the company’s climate impacts, in a high-emissions industry. It’s a journey best done with others, for support and inspiration.

ASB has added two new funds to its stable of investment options – the ASB KiwiSaver Scheme Positive Impact Fund and the ASB Investment Funds Positive Impact Fund. Both will have a focus on investing in companies that are making a positive impact on society or the environment.

The decision to launch the funds was based off an increasing demand from customers who want to put their savings to work to give the world a better future, but still want solid long term returns.

Green bonds are taking off as the investment vehicle of choice for the private and public sectors to finance projects with environmental benefits, such as clean power, low-carbon transport and energy efficient buildings.

KPMG New Zealand is proud to be a certified verifier under the Climate Bonds Initiative’s Climate Bond Standards and Certification Scheme. We are helping Kiwi companies mobilise capital for ambitious climate action.

Operating in a highly regulated industry, it is essential that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare adopts the highest international standards when it comes to environmental performance. Enviro-Mark Solutions’ CEMARS programme is a great fit, ensuring transparency and credibility through alignment with international best practice in carbon emissions measurement and verification.

While some despair about the fate of our planet, award-winning climate scientist James Renwick says it is never too late to take action – and seizing the moment may require a new “moonshot moment” for the 21st century.

If you find yourself grasped by a sense of fatalism regarding the existential threat posed by climate change, James Renwick has some good news – we can always stop things from getting worse.