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 December 2018
In this the final edition for 2018 – you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – December 2001 NZICA to establish a sustainability Task Force
• A4S Essential Guide to Finance Culture
• Financing our Future
• Tracking Progress of the One Billion Trees Programme
• ‘Smart’ Shipping Box Can Be Used a Thousand Times – Major Savings
• Time Capsule
• In Nigeria, a Green Stove Addresses Health, the Environment and Employment
• ‘Our Leaders are Like Children,’ School Strike Founder Tells Climate Summit
• Did You Know?
• Sightlines: A Conversation with the Natural World
• The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting
• From High Above, A New Way of Seeing Our Urban Planet
• Analysis: Which Countries Have Sent the Most Delegates to COP24?
• SBN’s 2018 in Numbers
• New Tool Helps NZ Farmers Gauge Carbon Footprint
• NZ Rowing a Sustainability Award Finalist
• Ports of Auckland Plans Hydrogen Plant to Cut Carbon Emissions.
Sustainability Matters 6th December 2018
In this the second to last edition for 2018 – the next will be 13th December – you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – December 2001 NZICA to establish a sustainability Task Force
• Marilyn Waring – Visionary Leader Award
• Finance Minister Welcomes Release of Living Standards Framework Dashboard
• Donation Opportunity!
• Doing the Doughnut at the G20?
• Celebrating NZ’s Sustainability Heroes!
• Amsterdam’s ‘Insect Hotels’ Help Save City’s Bees
• Think Resilience Guided Online Course
• Remarks at the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Summit 2018
• Natural Capital Coalition – Australia
• Work Started 15 years ago Comes to Fruition
• Patagonia is Donating Company’s Entire $10M Trump Tax Cut to Fight Climate Change
• How Often Should Bath Towels be Washed?
• EECA Consults on Energy Levy-funded Activities
• SuperHome Movement
• The Healthiest Hospital is the One Which Doesn’t Exist, Because it’s Not Needed
• Can 35-ton Bricks Help Solve Renewable Energy’s Biggest Problem?
• Australia’s Most Polluted Postcodes
Sustainability Matters 22nd November 2018
In this edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – NZICA AGM votes in favour of Group’s remit
• Institutional Investors Called to Help Solve Social and Environmental Issues
• Updated GRI OH&S Standard Calls for More Comprehensive, Worker-centric Reporting
• Kōkako Sustainability Report 2018
• Donation Opportunity!
• Designing Impactful Engagement
• Leading Corporate Reporting Bodies Launch Two-Year Project for Better Alignment
• Smartphone App Identifies Plant Pests In the Field
• Major New Initiative to Improve New Zealand Homes Launched
• Time Capsule
• New Zealand’s Old Plastic Bags Will be Made Into Fence Posts for Farms
• Mining Bitcoin Uses Enough Energy to Warm Building
• Auckland Council Reaffirms Commitment to Tackling Climate Change
• Beyond Simple Payback: Calculating the True Value of Project Savings
• Redrawing the Map: How the World’s Climate Zones Are Shifting
• As Global Demand for Electricity Grows, Geothermal Energy Heats Up
• One Billion Signatures for Peace
• Why 536 was ‘The Worst Year To Be Alive’
• Wellington Building Takes Out International Green Award
• The Response
Sustainability Matters 8th November 2018
In this edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – NZICA AGM votes in favour of Group’s remit
• Living Planet Report: Aiming Higher
• Want to Build a Stronger Climate Movement? Integrate
• A Reader’s Feedback and Insights
• How to Shift Public Attitudes and Win the Global Climate Battle
• Donation Opportunity!
• Carbon Fund IPO – NZX Listing
• Towards Transparency 2018 – Corporate Reporting on Sustainability is Now Mainstream
• $2 trillion Investors Challenge 55 Companies on Climate Lobbying
• Impact-led Businesses Leap Forward with New Online Platform
• Making Australian Corporate History – A Huge Week for ACCR
• NZ Native Plant Nurseries in Trouble
• Climate Change and Green Finance
• Another Pacific Island Gone
• Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture – A New Earth
• Oil, Power, and War: A Dark History
• Use Compressed Air to Store Energy
• Diamond Battery Made from Nuclear Waste
Sustainability Matters 25th October 2018
In this edition you can read a very tiny fragment of what’s going on in the ‘sustainability’ world;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 9th October 2001 action
• Integrated Reporting Forum with Richard Howitt
• Project Drawdown
• Peri Drysdale Awarded for Two Decades of Exceptional Services
• Bees and Neonicotinoids – EPA Call for Information
• Norway Bans Products Derived from Deforestation
• SASB and GRI Step Up Project to Align Reporting Standards
• A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life
• The Aotearoa Circle
• Dutch Appeals Court Upholds Landmark Climate Change Ruling
• New Life for Unwanted Construction Materials
• New Zealand/Japan Hydrogen Agreement
• Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture
• How Wildfires are Polluting Rivers and Threatening Water Supplies
• Soil: An Agro-ecological Primer
• The Great Shift -The Ecological/ Generational Shift in Agriculture
• In the Heart of the Corn Belt, an Uphill Battle for Clean Water
• Patagonia Endorses Two Senate Candidates
• Transitioning To a Low Carbon and More Sustainable Economy
• Australian Super Funds – ESG Policies
• New Good Governance Guide
• Help Shape the Future of EER Assurance
• Where in the World Do You Read Sustainability Matters? [Pt2]
Sustainability Matters 11th October 2018
In this edition you can read a very tiny fragment of what’s going on in the ‘sustainability’ world;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 9th October 2001 action
• ‘Most Important Years in history’: Major UN Report Sounds
Last-Minute Climate Alarm
• Global Warming 1.5°C
• 37 Things You Need to Know about 1.5C Global Warming
• ‘We’re Moving to Higher Ground’: America’s Era of Climate Mass
Migration is Here
• We Must Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Net Zero or Face
More Floods
• While Economic Growth Continues We’ll Never Kick Our Fossil
Fuels Habit
• Un Intended Consequences: Impact Assessment for Sustainable
Regional Futures
• Introducing Shareable
• Humans Are Not Just the Problem; They Are the Solution to Climate
Change
• Students Build a Car which Runs on Air
• Kiwi Ingenuity Shines at Energy Efficiency Awards
• How to Make Air Conditioning More Sustainable
• Social Metrics Commission Launches a New Measure of UK Poverty
• Social Enterprise World Forum 2018 in Edinburgh
• How to Fix Our Air Conditioning Problem
• Where in the World Do You Read Sustainability Matters?
Sustainability Matters 27th September 2018
In this edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 11th September 2001 action
• Survey: The Integration of Sustainability in the Education Journey
of the Professional Accountant
• Tax Working Group Releases Interim Report
• Government for the Public Good: The Surprising Science of Large-Scale
Collective Action
• Gasoline Made of Carbon Sucked From the Air
• Carbon Legislation for Infrastructure: Workshop
• Obama Foundation Fellowships
• Aotearoa Social Enterprise Forum
• 2018 World Indigenous Business Forum
• Recycling the Unrecyclable
• Air Pollution Particles Found in Mothers’ Placentas
• (Un) Changing Behaviour: (New Zealand’s delay & dysfunction in utilising)
Economic Instruments in the Management of Waste?
• Animated Map: 2,400 Years of European History
• United Airlines Plans 50% Emissions Reduction by 2050
• HomeGrown – Inspiring Local Stories of Sustainability Success
• Low-carbon Economy ‘Growth Story of the Century’: Stern
• Pay More for Your Clothes, Bangladesh Workers Tell Global Fashion Brands
• The Human Element Movie NZ Premiere