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 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
Sustainability Matters 13th September 2018
In this ‘supa-sized’ 6 page edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 11th September 2001 action
• We Won’t Save the Earth With a Better Kind of Disposable Coffee Cup
• Global Soft Drink Firms Back Plan to Eliminate Packaging Waste
• Global Warming Visualisations
• How the World Measures Wellbeing
• Europe to Ban Halogen Lightbulbs
• World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm Opens in Irish Sea
• Technology Key for Energy Resilience
• Strengthening Communities
• Why the Topic of Modern Slavery is Coming to the Fore
• Two Job Vacancies
• Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century:
Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent Times
• An Environmental Ethic
• A Blueprint for Solving NZ’s Waste Problem
• People Fighting to Save the Planet
• Earth Photo 2018 Shortlist – In Pictures
• Act Now to Achieve Low-emissions Future
• Record Numbers as Finalists Announced for 2018 Sustainable Business
Network Awards
• Scotland’s Floating Turbine Smash Tidal Renewable Energy Records
• Sustainable Footwear Brand, Allbirds
• New Guidance Reporting Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals
• A New Blueprint for Business
• Practice of Destroying Finished Luxury Products to End
• India’s Largest City: Ban on Plastics Faces Big Obstacles
• How to Solve Our Paradox of Poverty and Plenty
• World Green Building Week 2018
• Court Quashes Trudeau’s Approval of Trans Mountain Pipeline
• Wide-Ranging Outcomes of Impact Investing
• Fighting Fire with Fire: California Turns to Prescribed Burning
• New Reporting Standard Offers a Holistic Approach to Water Stewardship
Across the Value Chain
• Seeing a Future in Improved Land.
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 14th August 2001 video-linked event
• A Powerhouse in Responsible Investment – Tessa Tennant Obituary
• Bottle Deposits – Coming Soon After Plastic Bag Ban?
• True to Label
• France to Set Penalties on Goods Packaged with Non-recycled Plastic in 2019
• Ensuring a Fit for Purpose Charities Act
• Changes to NZ’s Rubbish Strategy
• The World Is In a Plastic Pollution Crisis
• Think Resilience Guided Course
• Living the Change – Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future
• Sustainable Home Renovations
• New Act, New Approach, New Business
• Trust: A Cornerstone of Wellbeing – The Building Blocks for a Flourishing Society
• Plant-Based Butter Made from Chickpeas
• Half-price Solar for Victorians
• Should Rivers Have Rights? A Growing Movement Says It’s About Time.
Sustainability Matters 30th August 2018
In this edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 14th August 2001 video-linked event
• A Powerhouse in Responsible Investment – Tessa Tennant Obituary
• Bottle Deposits – Coming Soon After Plastic Bag Ban?
• True to Label
• France to Set Penalties on Goods Packaged with Non-recycled Plastic in 2019
• Ensuring a Fit for Purpose Charities Act
• Changes to NZ’s Rubbish Strategy
• The World Is In a Plastic Pollution Crisis
• Think Resilience Guided Course
• Living the Change – Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future
• Sustainable Home Renovations
• New Act, New Approach, New Business
• Trust: A Cornerstone of Wellbeing – The Building Blocks for a Flourishing Society
• Plant-Based Butter Made from Chickpeas
• Half-price Solar for Victorians
• Should Rivers Have Rights? A Growing Movement Says It’s About Time.
Sustainability Matters 16th August 2018
In this edition you can read about;
• Sustainability Working Group – Insights to 14th August 2001 video-linked event
• New Zealand to Ban Single-use Plastic Bags
• The Reporting Exchange
• A Healthy Economy Should be Designed to Thrive, Not Grow
• Resilience and Future Wellbeing: Discussion paper
• Timber Mill Uses Wood Waste to Flip $1m Loss into $500,000 Profit
• Leading Businesses Back Study on NZ’s Plastic Packaging System
• The Big Questions – What is New Zealand’s Future?
• Sustainability Knowledge
• SBN Leadership in Sustainable Business Course
• Fossil Free Acceleration Tour
• Regenerative Qualities of WholeTrees©
• New Guidance for Companies to Report Their Impact on the SDGs
• Modern Slavery Act 2018 – Australia
• Rivers in the Sky: How Deforestation Is Affecting Global Water Cycles
• Supply Chain Sustainability School Australia
• What if Economic Growth Isn’t as Positive as You Think?
• Captured Plastic Recycled into Floating Parks
• Meet the Growing Source of GHG Emissions