This Climate Business

A new report by medical journal The Lancet shows heat-related deaths, food insecurity and the spread of infectious diseases caused by climate change have reached record levels. In our concern for its effect on economy or the environment it’s easy to forget that climate change is also health crisis. To ensure it’s not forgotten, more than 1000 health professionals are members of Ora Taiao; a p...

You probably know Essity more what’s in your house: Purex and Sorbent in your loo and Handee towels in your kitchen. You may also know that this tissue is produced in a mill in Kawerau, central North Island, across the road from the old Tasman Pulp & Paper mill. Perhaps what you didn't know is that by the end of this year, the Essity mill will have ditched gas to run almost all on renewable ge...

Few businesses have figured out how to make Aotearoa's native bush 'pay'. Helen Paul Smith husband Scott have patiently created a health and beauty brand, Oku, entirely from native extracts and bioactives. Reinvesting the profits into regenerating Ngahere in the Waikato, Oku is an inspirational story of business done right.

In late August the wholesale energy price spiked as high as $1000 mwh (megawatt hour) as the country felt the effects of a dry winter - when the hydro lakes aren’t replenished by ice melt and rain. The spike has added woes to an already woeful economy and at least one factory - Winstone Pulp International - announced closure. In response, the government announced a suite of actions, including&nbsp...

If you think you’re forgetful, spare a thought for New Zealand businesses. Mutu, a Kiwi start-up, says they routinely forget assets they bought and never used - up to five million tons of them annually. Mutu’s resource-sharing app does the remembering for them and adds up the cash and carbon savings they make by using stuff they already own.. 

James Hughes looks into the future and tells New Zealand’s councils just how bad life could get as a result of climate change. James, technical director for climate and resilience for engineering consultancy Tonkin + Taylor , performs climate risk assessments. You could call it staring into the abyss; he tells Ross Inglis it’s often the starting point for difficult conversations about the impacts...

Solar developer Rānui Generation started ground works the Twin Rivers Solar Farm, near Kaitaia. The 31MWp project could power 6,000 households or 25,000 electric vehicles for a year - and it’s the first of four solar farms planned around the country. To talk about the project and what role solar will play in our energy future, Vincent was joined by the CEO Jason Foden . Media release RanuiGenerati...

You might know Steven Moe as a lawyer for Christchurch based Parry Field, specialising in charities and the impact sector; or as the chair of Community Finance - an investor in community housing; or as the host of Seeds, a longstanding weekly podcast; or as the author of The Apple Tree, or as a mentor for Christchurch incubator Ministry of Awesome or a quietly spoken father and friend. Howeve...

What does ‘nature’ mean for business? How do companies incorporate nature dependency and nature opportunity into their strategy and action? And what is TNFD? Vincent was joined by two experts: Sam Rowland , the Programme Manager for Nature at the Sustainable Business Network and Kirsty Brennan , the Environmental and Sustainability Business Partner at the Lyttleton Port Company.

Could congestion pricing be the way to address traffic gridlock and reduce emissions? Auckland Council seems to think so, suggesting congestion pricing within the next two years. If so, how will it work? Mark Heine is the CEO of eRoad, the Kiwi company managing electronic road user charges, or eRUCs. He sees a promising future for transport management using eRUC and shifting funds from roads to al...

When it comes to aviation emissions, New Zealand is far from clean and green. Economist Dr Paul Callister tells Ross Inglis that we are the world’s sixth highest per-capita aviation polluter, emissions are tracking the wrong way, and the sector’s plans to cut emissions offer little real hope.

You’d be hiding under a rock if you haven’t noticed that there’s fierce disagreement about the growth of pine plantations on rural New Zealand. On the one hand, we need fast growing permanent forests to act as carbon sinks. Lots and lots if we’re meet our net zero goals. If grown on marginal these forests make welcome additional income for farmers and reduce reliance on sheep and beef – a win for...

So businesses love parking and hate cycleways. Or do they? Bike Auckland chair Karen Hormann tells Ross Inglis about a new campaign that tackles a lopsided narrative about commerce and cycling.

We know that about a third of food is wasted.  If global food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind only China and the USA. No one believes it’s a good idea. So why does it keep happening? And who’s in charge of this madness? It’s turns out, it’s no one. Those numbers are mere guesses and gaps in the system remain unsolved. Someone needs to do s...

There’s a fast-growing thicket of regulations and trade agreements standing between corporate New Zealand and its overseas markets. This emerging landscape has been mapped out by law firm Chapman Tripp in Protecting New Zealand’s Competitive Advantage , a report for the Aotearoa Circle.  Co-authors Nicola Swan and Alana Lampitt told Ross Inglis what it all means for businesses big and small.

David Williams is a journalist with Newsroom. He recently interviewed Extinction Rebellion protesters, Nick Hanafin and Siana Fitzjohn who climbed aboard the oil rig COSL Prospector in the Cook Strait in 2020 and were subsequently prosecuted. The interview piqued my interest, as it got into the minds and hearts of two incredibly brave and yet, surprisingly ordinary people who were prepared to push...

Is another plastic bottle the way to disrupt the plastic bottle business? Jayden Klinac of Anew believes so. The Anew system builds on years of trying to find a sustainable, commercially viable plant-based, recyclable, compostable, cradle-to-cradle plastic packaging solution. Brave man. Vincent spoke to Jayden ahead of his talk at the Spark Future State conference .

Two years ago Unilever Australia-NZ became a B Corp. It was the first really large corporate, with household brands Surf and Persil, to join a scheme that’s been home to environmental hero brands such as EcoStore.  Why did Unilever join? What did they discover in the process? And what impact has a major corporate had on such a spirited brand as B Lab? Vincent was joined by Cam Heath , MD of U...

Climate change activism is everywhere: in politics, in business, on the streets and, increasingly, in the courts. Simpson Grierson ’s Nick Chapman tells Ross Inglis what’s driving the movement towards climate change litigation and just where might it take us.

Mike Casey is the CEO of Rewiring Aoteraoa , part of an international movement to accelerate the shift to a renewable, electric-powered economy. Rewiring’s first report is all about the electric home - think rooftop solar, heat pumps, EVs and so on. But Mike is also a horticulturist and a passionate advocate for decarbonising the primary sector. He has the unique ability to win over both farmers a...

Whether it’s swallowing bleach to treat Covid or casting climate change as a Chinese conspiracy, disinformation takes nutty ideas from fringes and mainstreams them into our popular discourse. At best, it's hilarious - seen how windmills kill dolphins anyone? But mostly it's just sad and sometimes tragic.  What is disinformation? How is it different from misinformation? Who are the main perpet...

If you’ve wanted to get yourself a discounted bicycle or scooter under something like the UK’s Cycle to Work Scheme, here’s the good news: you can. Ōtautahi Christchurch-based WorkRide now offers a national ride-to-work scheme that uses a Fringe Benefit Tax exemption to slice up to 63 percent off the cost of your next commuter toy. Ross Inglis asked co-founder  Connor Read how the scheme work...

The conscious consumer movement has an impact but it’s still small - a minority of people choose to change their behaviour. Imagine if you could make your carbon footprint your bank's problem. Imagine these large institutions, with millions of customers and insights into their spending, worry about their customers’ carbon footprint. That’s the genius of new carbon disclosure laws - banks, insuranc...

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) closed last week with a notable first: an agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. Not quite the phase out most countries had wanted, and reflective perhaps of the influence of petrostates, including the host Dubai. Indeed, the chair is a head of an oil company, and the next COP is due to be held in Azerbaijan, another petrostate and much...

Heard of Scope 4? Us neither. If you thought Scope 3 emissions are hard to count and reduce then Scope 4 lifts the ambition yet again. Scope 4 or so-called avoided emissions ask businesses to create products that replace dirty ones and thereby avoid emissions – think renewables replacing gas or bioplastic replacing PETs. To explain Scope 4, Vincent spoke with Dr Jodi York the chair of the impact c...