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 13th June 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• An Alternative Measure of Progress to GDP
• No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
• The Fracking of Rachel Carson – Silent Spring’s Lost Legacy, Told in Fifty Parts
• What Next? Season 2, Episode 3
• Green Speak Waikato
• Survey: How Should Stuff Cover Climate Change?
• Sustainability Failed. The Future is Just Climate
• Tackling Climate Change? Governor Jay Inslee Has a Plan for That
• ISO Twenty-Four-Hundred
• Want to Read Up on Sustainability But Don’t Know Where to Start?
• From Fringe to Mainstream – Sustainable Business Council Celebrates 20th Anniversary
• EMBARK: Achieving Low Emissions Together
• There’s More to Seaweed than Just a Superfood
• Creating Healthy Communities and Ecosystems for a Resilient Future
• Crazy-Town – Band-Aid Town
• A Nod to NZ: What Can We Make of the Advice from the UK’s Committee on Climate Change?
• Businesses Say They Are Climate Resilient – but Most Don’t Actually Have a Plan
• The Guide to Going Circular.
Sustainability Matters 30th May 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• One Question to Ask Your Head of State
• ESG Reporting Guide: A Support Resource for Companies
• Zero Carbon Bill Open for Submissions
• Stop the Bickering
• Silos to Systems
• Why the Climate Change Message Isn’t Working
• Consider Non-financial Risks in the Reporting Season
• What is Sustainable Rubber?
• Sustainable Investing is the Best Job Ever
• Paul Polman: Courage and Collaboration will Help • Business Accomplish Mission Possible
• How One Woman Used Her Accounting Career to Drive Social Change
• NZ’s Fight Against Climate Change
• Climate Code Red: It’s Time We All Called a Spade a Spade
• New Zealand Estuaries and Habitats
• A4S Essential Guide to Debt Finance
• The Bug Eaters.
Sustainability Matters 16th May 2019
This last week or two there has been a substantial amount of publicity and discussion about the New Zealand government’s proposed Zero Carbon Bill. There is also the almost concurrent visit to NZ of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who while positing the proposal has much merit infers the barre has not been set sufficiently high – perhaps inferring the politicians being pragmatic to their constituencies rather than the science-led need.
For space reasons it has been decided not to canvas these issues in this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• UK Labour Plan to Delist Companies to Force Action on Climate Change
• Sustainable Business Network Awards 2019
• How the World Got Hooked on Palm Oil
• Greta Thunberg to UK’s Parliament: Future Sold So Small Group of People Could Make Unimaginable Amounts of Money
• How a Boulder Startup’s Innovative Business Model is Fighting Climate Change, Preserving Land, and Improving Livestock Health
• Chernobyl: TV Exposé of the Catastrophic Meltdown
• Coastal Recovery: Bringing a Damaged Wetland Back to Life
• Homestar in Prefab and More
• Measuring Emissions: A Guide for Organisations
• Framework Launched to Deliver Net-zero Built Environment
• UK MPs Have Declared a Climate Emergency. Isn’t it Time for Business to Do the Same?
• Investing Prophet Jeremy Grantham Takes Aim at Climate Change
• Australia to Cull Over Two Million Feral Cats by 2020
• Australian University Pioneers Urban Mining ‘Micro-factories’
• Aiming Even Higher with EPDs
• Sexy Killers
• Grounding
• Can Recycling Help Overcome Homelessness
Sustainability Matters 2nd May 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Attenborough Warns Financial Leaders to Not Waste Nature’s ‘Capital’
• The Planet Is in Peril, But is Not Dying
• Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance
• Message from Mike
• Report Signals Nine Top Environmental Issues Facing New Zealand
• Preparing for Tomorrow – Embedding Strategic Foresight into Sustainability
• Climate Change Food Calculator: What’s Your Diet’s Carbon Footprint?
• Fashion Transparency Index 2019
• Tools to Calculate the True Cost of Water
• The Love Child of Porsche Designers and Croatia’s Rimac
• Structuring for Impact: Evolving Legal Structures for Business in New Zealand
• Enviro-Mark Solutions’ Chief Executive Dr Ann Smith First NZ Fellow of IEMA
• Entries Invited for e360 Video Contest
• thinkstep Picks Up B Corp Certification
• Climate Challenge Conference.
Sustainability Matters 18th April 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• IASB Chair on What Sustainability Reporting Can and Cannot Achieve
• Reporting
• Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities
• EDS Conference, Through New Eyes
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• Degrowth: A Call for Radical Abundance
• Sustainable Finance Forum Takes Shape
• As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green is This New Building Material?
• Pacific Central Bankers Prioritise Capital Flows and Climate Change
• EMBARK: Achieving Low Emissions Together
• Sustainable Business Network Awards
• CDP Environmental Disclosure Workshop
• Kiwis Incentivised to Build Healthy Homes
• Message from Mike
• “Life versus the Machine”
• How a Small Community in India Became the Country’s First Green Village
• Is Palm Oil in Your Hot Cross Bun?
• Australian Regulators Call for a Shift in Treatment of Climate-related Risks
• Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand – NgāTūtohu Aotearoa
Sustainability Matters 4th April 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Literally the Worst Bank in the World is …..
• Mike Joy – Biophysical Limits to Growth
• Follow the Money: Sustainability Goes Mainstream
• Climate Change Adaptation Event
• Key Competencies for Sustainability Degree Programs
• Become a Climate Reality Leader
• ROI of Climate Action – Workshops
• New Zealand – the World’s Innovative Lab for Climate Change
• Discover Your Impact on the Planet
• State of the Climate in 2018 Shows Accelerating Climate Change Impacts
• Eco Toothbrushes
• Are You Well? Are We Safe?: Maori – Non-Maori inequalities as a Moral Challenge for all New Zealanders
• A New Narrative for the Regenerative Hub
• How to Report on the SDGs
• Forget Tesla, It’s China’s e-Buses which are Denting Oil Demand
• Welcome to Crazy Town: A New Podcast from Post Carbon Institute
• New Report: Number of Christians Facing Persecution Grows
Sustainability Matters 21st March 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• The Way Between and The Lost Heir
• In Focus: Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
• Reading List: The Tipping Point in Sustainable Finance
• As High-Tide Flooding Worsens, More Pollution Is Washing to the Sea
• Wide Interest in Waikato River Authority’s $100m Investment Plan
• Mindset Coaching Programme for Professional and Personal Growth
• Carbon Calculators – A Selection
• Historic Supreme Court Win: World Bank Group Is Not Above the Law
• The Political Economy of Sustainability
• Index Shows Money Does Not Equal Wellness
• When the Circular Economy Meets Aviation
• Rabbits More Destructive to Dunes than Climate Change
• Towards Zero Waste – Construction & Demolition Workshop
• Have a Million Dollar Electrifying Idea for Liveable Cities?
• Just Transition Summit to Spark Vital Conversation
• Green Expo and Better Food Fair
• Green Property Summit 2019
• ‘Divestment Isn’t a Badge of Honour – It’s a Failure of Engagement’
• Renewable Energy Won’t Make Bitcoin ‘Green,’ but Tweaking its Mining Mechanism Might
• Art with Impact.