The primary purposes of Sustainability Matters are to improve the performance of New Zealand organisations from a sustainability, or "triple bottom" line perspective, and to advocate sustainability thinking and action.
Frequently this requires a change from "business as usual" to a different approach which not only reduces costs and improves financial performance but also results in much needed improved outcomes for people and our planet. We owe this to our children and to at least the next six generations i.e. seven generations.
The traditional measure of organisation success - financial outcomes - is an incomplete method of measurement and excludes key elements. These exclusions result in an "unbalanced scorecard".
Is this thinking new? No, far from it. Rachel Carson via her 1962 book "Silent Spring" was perhaps the person who more than any other alerted us to the need for changed thinking.
The thinking can be applied to entities of any size, in any sector, located anywhere.
Newsletters
As part of what we do a newsletter is published (usually) once very two weeks. It is four pages and is intended especially for chartered accountants** and those who use their services. It is distributed to subscribers by opt-in eMail. There is no ($) charge; donations are always welcome! By coincidence the newsletter is called Sustainability Matters.
** Because they have immense potential to influence others and to make huge positive differences to our world.
Sustainability Matters 17th December 2020
In this ‘super-sized’ and final 2020 edition of Sustainability Matters which has numerous reading resources, you can read about;
• Six Environmental Trailblazers Honoured as UNEP Champions of the Earth
• After Five Years, Here are Five Things the Paris Agreement Achieved – and Didn’t
• Infowhelm: Environmental Art and Literature in an Age of Data
• Race to Net Zero Briefing
• Strong sustainability for New Zealand: Principles and Scenarios
• A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life
• Tree Beings
• Fighting COVID-19 in the Amazon, with Herbs and the Internet
• Tongue-Eating Louse – A Newly Described Species
• The New New Zealand: Facing Demographic Disruption
• Will New Zealand be the First Developed Country to Evolve a Steady-state Economy?
• Two Reads or New Reads
• Plastics in the Gut: Aligning Science with Nature Rather Than Empire
• Have you Heard of this NZ Bookshop?
• Insights into New Zealand’s ESG reporting December 2020
• Enough! The Challenge of a Post-growth Economy
• The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light
• A Change for Good
• Forks Over Knives – Documentary Film
• 20 Must-Read Books on Sustainability in 2020
• Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature
• Accounting for the Environment
• Green Recovery Must End the Reign of GDP, Argue Cambridge and UN Economists
• Mid-Course Correction Revisited
• Into the Arctic Ice: The Largest Polar Expedition of All Time.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 10th December 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Peak Accounting Body Commits to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
• IIRC and SASB Intend to Merge in Major Step towards Simplifying Corporate Reporting
• The Real Looting in America is the Walton Family
• New Centre Advances Integrated Reporting to Build Trust in Business
• Disclosing Financially Material Water-related Information in Corporate Reporting
• Climate Change Commission – Online Events
• In the Eye of the Storm: Reflections from the Second Pacific Climate Change Conference
• Working From Home: What’s Your Carbon Footprint?
• Online Giants and Tech Powerhouses in Eye of the Storm as UK Battles e-waste Tsunami
• COVID Quiets the Cruise Industry: How ‘Going Back to Normal’ Should Not be a Given
• Meet the Mercedes AA Class Sedan
• Countdown Commits to Green Buildings
• Advertisements Harm the Planet
• Micro-plastics Found Near Everest’s Peak
• Mixed Farming Beats Intensive Agriculture Methods
• Care as Commons: A Brief Introduction
• 100-year-old Kiwi Business Leads the Way
• Climate Change and Corporate Value: What Companies Really Think.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 26th November 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• 2020 Sustainable Business Awards
• How Do Big Changes Happen? Gradually, then All at Once
• A Progressive Agenda – Climate Change
• Guilty of Greenwashing?
• Exporting into the EU – What Exporters Need to Know
• Don’t Tell the Kids they Have to Fix It’
• Report Shows ‘Green’ Banks Growing Rapidly in Numbers and Importance
• Managing Supply Chain Emissions in NZ
• Climate Explained: Why do Humans Instinctively Reject Evidence Contrary to their Beliefs?
• Sustainability Reporting is for Everyone
• Mapping Project Drawdown Solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals
• How can Government Policy Interventions Encourage Kiwi Consumers to Make Choices that Result in Lower GHG Emissions?
• No Excuses Left say Farmers as Warming Tops 1.40C
• The Dark Under-belly of the Illicit Trade in F-gases
• Five Roles [Jobs] at SBC
• Is Your Wardrobe Killing the Planet?
• The Right to Repair
• Eateries Asked to Carry ‘haze-free’ Signage
• The Future of Sustainability Disclosure is here
• Moving Towards a Sustainable Financial System
• Focus on Water Risk.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 12th November 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Roadmap for Sustainable Finance in New Zealand
• UN Goals Provide Starting Point for Next Government
• The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice
• How Accountants Can Lead the Climate Revolution: Two Podcasts
• Royal Commission Report on Australia’s Unprecedented Bushfires
• Consumer Research on Ethical Investment
• Fighting Climate Change with Bamboo
• New Toitū Carbon Assess Tool Enables Carbon Measurement in Supply Chains and Small Businesses
• “We Love Toilet Paper”
• Report Shows an Increase in Companies Publishing Sustainability Reports
• Australian Pension Fund Settles Landmark Climate Lawsuit
• Discount for Selecting Recycled Packaging
• Cellphone-recorded Coughs Detect Asymptomatic Covid-19 Infections
• New York City’s East River Now Home to 3 Tidal Power Turbines
• Nature and Wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand: Exploring the Connection
• The Hidden Fix Radically Shrinking Climate Impact of your Groceries
• Cooler Buildings with ‘Cooling Paint’.
Also attached is a long eMail from CSEAR based at St Andrews University in Scotland. It has much more content than usual. You may find some of it interesting, including the link to the CSEAR blog, a new book “Accounting for Sustainability”, the Sustainable Development Goals, reference to a competition being mounted soon by A4S in London (which has a monetary prize) plus a 4 day online conference mounted by A4S.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 29th October 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Billions of $’s of NZ Business’ Purchasing Power Aims for More Sustainability
• The NZ Sustainability Framework You May Not Have Heard About
• The Consideration of Climate-Related Risks in an Audit of Financial Statement
• ‘Jet Fighter’ Godwit Breaks World Record for Non-stop Bird Flight
• Te Ao Māori values at Heart of ‘World-first’ Tahito Investment Fund
• First Impact Investment Readiness Recipients Announced
• Shoes Made by Wellington Startup from Pineapple Husks and Ocean Plastic
• The CFC-Ozone Puzzle: Environmental Science in the Global Arena
• IIRC’s Global Conference
• Who Should be Responsible for Global Sustainability Reporting Standards?
• Māori Landowners Challenges of Income from Carbon
• What are Science-based Targets? [SBTi]
• How Small-Scale Loggers Can Help Save Africa’s Tropical Forests
• CDSB: Guiding the Profession through Climate Disclosure
• We’re Hiring! Fundraising Manager
• How to Measure the Financial ROI of Your Shovel-ready Training
• The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis
• Seismic Blasting Efforts Halted in Atlantic Ocean.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 15th October 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Celebrating the Anniversary of Silent Spring
• People, Planet and the Corporate Balance Sheet
• Nature is Everyone’s Business
• UK Supreme Court Hears Climate Heathrow Airport Expansion Case
• Seven Ways to Inform Better Decisions with TCFD Reporting
• Product Stewardship – End of Life Solutions
• Course for Corporate Directors Overseeing ESG Risks
• NZ’s Climate-related Disclosures Plan is Good News
• China’s Top Climate Think Tanks Push for More Cuts to Coal Use and Emissions
• New Swedish Grocery to Price Goods Based on Carbon Footprint
• Reuters Events Responsible Business Awards Winners Revealed…
• How to Measure & Monetise your Shovel-ready Training Outcomes
• The Grim Truth behind Stately Homes
• Wellbeing Approach to Public Policy – Where To?
• Sustainable Business Council and Climate Leaders Coalition – 5 year Strategies
• AUT Business School Wins ‘Ideas Worth Teaching’ Prize
• Decarbonising Heat: Pathways to the Decarbonisation of Heating and Industrial Process Heat
• Cutting the Grass? Cut it Out!
• Supporting Young Entrepreneurs in Africa
• An End to Endless Growth.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 1st October 2020
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• The Biggest Players in Sustainability Disclosure Join Forces on Vision
• Businessman Rhymes the Case for Universal Carbon Tax
• A Secret Recording Reveals Oil Executives’ Private Views on Climate Change
• Politicians Should Take Citizens’ Assemblies Seriously
• What Keeps Me Going?
• Talking Trash: The Corporate Playbook of False Solutions to the Plastic Crisis
• Energy Companies Keep Right to Sue States in Private Courts, as Treaty Reforms Blocked
• How Leaders can Tackle Industrial Emissions through Climate Alignment
• It’s Not Just the West – These Places are Also on Fire
• I Am Greta
• How the West is Primed to Burn
• Microsoft’s Underwater Data Centre Resurfaces after Two Years
• A Deep Dive into Oceans
• New Zealand’s Top 30 Corporations do a Poor Job Reporting on Climate Change
• New Analysis Busts Electric Vehicle Tax Myth
• Sustainability Reports Mask ‘Dangerous trade-offs’ warns Elkington
• 2020 Go Green Expo
• Carbon Inequality Report
• Report on Scorecard for NZ Election 2020 – Climate Change and Health
To see the newsletter click here.