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 14th November
In this “supa” edition of Sustainability Matters – yes so soon after the previous “supa” edition – you can read about;
• Zero Carbon Bill Passes with Almost Unanimous Support in Parliament
• Consultation Opens on Kiwi Businesses Assessing and Reporting Their Climate-Related Financial Risks
• Heat, Greed and Human Need: Climate Change, Capitalism and Sustainable Wellbeing
• Sorcha Carr’s Speech to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
• Enviro-Mark Solutions Ltd Rebrands to ‘Toitū Envirocare’
• Climate Liability News
• Focusing Aotearoa New Zealand’s Environmental Reporting System
• Gen Less Campaign by EECA
• U.S. Gas Station Ditches Oil for 100% EV Charging
• Accounting for Sustainability
• Dear GRETA, GRETA, GRETA….
• UK’s Treasury’s Net-Zero Minister: Climate Action will be a ‘Signature Theme’ of Next Government
• Inefficient Light Bulb Sales Halve
• Inequality and the Climate Crisis: Reflections on Gough’s Heat, Greed and Human Need
• Transition Engineering: Building a Sustainable Future
• How Green are New Zealand’s Supermarkets?
• The Aotearoa Circle’s Sustainable Finance Forum Names Three Top Priorities for Sustainable Finance System
• Should Directors Who Ignore Climate Change Risks Keep Their Jobs? [and 18 other stories]
• Hard Truths About the Green Economy: The Race to Clean Up Mineral Supply Chains
• Focusing on the Positive
• Italy to Become First Country to Make Studying Climate Change Compulsory in Schools
• How to Talk About Climate Change: A Toolkit for Encouraging Collective Action
• LCANZ 10th Anniversary Summit
www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/03/888404/reinvent-financial-system
Sustainability Matters 31st October 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Zero Carbon Bill Reported Back
• EDS: Second Working Paper in Phase 2 of Resource Management Reform Project
• A Framework for the National Climate Change Risk Assessment for Aotearoa New Zealand
• Interested in Good News? – Consider This
• Governance for Good; Developing the Capability of New Zealand’s $20 billion Not-for-profit Sector
• Climate and Business Conference Auckland: Key Takeaways
• Climate Risk and the Role of CFOs
• Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets
• Conference 4 Climate: Citizens Assembly
• Asda to Trial Refillable Packaging in Bid to Ditch Plastic
• Nissan Leaf Battery Upgrade Project
• How Do Policymakers Access and Use Evidence to Address Complex Problems?
• Doer, Thinker, Dreamer, Agitator – What Makes a Great Sustainability Leader?
• Flights of Fancy: 10 Ways to Imagine Our Way Out of the Climate Crisis
• Eliminate – Designing Out Problematic Packaging
• Former Exxon Scientists Tell Congress of Oil Giant’s Climate Research Before Exxon Turned to Denial
• Changing the Lives of Kiwis with Disabilities, One Cookie at a Time!
• Leading Australian Engineers Turn Their Backs on New Fossil Fuel Projects
Sustainability Matters 17th October 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Dr Rod Carr to Chair Climate Change Commission
• Leave ‘em Laughing Instead of Crying: Climate Humour Can Break Down Barriers and Find Common Ground
• Academic Director Sustainable Business (Professor/Associate Professor)
• The Fight for the World’s Largest Forest
• A Chat Leads to a Change of View on Climate
• Fashion is Costing the Earth
• Driving Alignment in Climate-related Reporting
• Swedish Newspaper Stops Taking Adverts from Fossil Fuel Firms
• The IMF and Ecuador – The People Prevail
• Webinar: TCFD Masterclass – Good Practice in Implementation
• Construction Procurement Guidelines – NZ
• Construction & Demolition Waste Services – New NZ Eco-label
• For Travellers, Sustainability is the Word – But there are Many Definitions of It
• Scotland Gets ‘Toughest Climate Change Laws in the World’ as Holyrood Vote Passed
• SBN Award Finalists
• State of Minnesota Launches Live State-Wide Sustainability Website
• A ‘How To’ for Responsible Businesses to Contribute to a Circular Economy
• BoE’s Carney Warns Companies Ignoring Climate Crisis Will Go Bankrupt
Sustainability Matters 3rd October 2019
In this ‘supa size’ 6 page edition of Sustainability Matters with no mention of climate marches and related events you can read about;
• Choices Made Now Are Critical for the Future of Our Ocean and Cryosphere
• What Love Looks Like
• The Climate Crisis: Justice, Emotion and Social Change
• Sustainability Matters
• Loophole Threatening Zero Carbon Bill
• Talking About Climate Change with Your Kids
• Five Ways UK Farmers are Tackling Climate Change
• Interim Climate Change Committee Calls for Evidence
• ESG Reporting Uptake in S&P/NZX 50 Index and Investor Perspective 2019
• Air Travel Emissions ‘Worse than Anyone Expected’, Vastly Outpace Predictions
• New Masters Degree Tackles Urgent Issue of Sustainability
• Radical Joy for Hard Times: Finding Meaning and Making Beauty in Earth’s Broken Places
• How to Lower Your Waste and Carbon Footprint
• The National Product Stewardship Roadshow
• TCFD Good Practice Handbook
• Air New Zealand 2019 Sustainability Report
• Legislation to Have Wellbeing ‘Enshrined in Law’ Introduced
• Bezos: Amazon Is ‘Done Being In the Middle of the Herd’ on Climate Issues
• Dreaming of Sustainability in a Material World
• Global Pumped Energy Storage
• Coalition of 10,000 Farmers and Ranchers Call on Congress to Pass Green New Deal
• Commit To Applying Natural Capital Thinking To Improve Organisational Decision Making
• A Circular Solution to Plastic Waste
• New Tools to Reduce Climate Impact of Freight
• Holland Turns Hundreds of Bus Stops into Bee Stops As Gift To Honeybees
• Trees and Land Use in NZ
• Spaceship to Earth – NZ has a Problem
• Loan of NZ$50m Tied to Environment, Social and Governance Measures
• The Hard Truths of Climate Change – By the Numbers
Sustainability Matters 19th September 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• A New Beginning for Climate Reporting
• UN Climate Action Summit September 2019
• School Strike 4 Climate NZ
• Leadership NZ – 2020
• Sustainability Matters
• 2040
• ‘You Protect What You Love’: Why Biodiversity Thrives on Indigenous-managed Lands
• Wooden Skyscrapers Sprout Over Concrete Concerns
• Can New Zealanders Keep Flying and Reduce Their Carbon Footprint?
• AgResearch Project to Determine Whether Dairy Cows Can be Potty Trained
• Farewell to Plastic: Key Take-outs From SBN’s Conference
• Think Globally, Act Locally?
• Measuring up Impact Self-assessment
• Ecobob.co.nz – Online Business for Sale
• Science in Environmental Decision-Making
• Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives
• Action for Healthy Waterways
• Universal Design – Make Homes Work Better
• The Economics of Biodiversity: UK Treasury’s Call for Evidence
• Old Indian Technology Gets an Inspirational Lift
• Irish Teenager May Have a Solution for a Plastic-free Ocean
• AIG the All Blacks and Adani
Sustainability Matters 5th September 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• The Eight Principles of a Regenerative Economy
• Changing the Narrative: Why Paying Tax Should Be a Badge of Pride for Companies
• Climate Change: 12 years to Save the Planet? Make that 18 months
• ZEALANDIA Named One of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Greatest Places of 2019
• Sustainability Matters
• Business Must Place Purpose before Profits, Top CEOs Urge
• Concrete Solutions to Cut CO2 Emissions
• Energy Efficiency Key Action to Meet Renewable Energy Goals
• Colorado’s Organic Farmland is Growing – and Boosting Incomes Along the Way
• A Dedicated Watchdog for Water Quality
• Sustainability Leadership in a Changing World
• A-CSEAR 2019 Conference
• What’s your 2040?
• SBN Leadership in Sustainable Business Course 2019
• A Zero Carbon Christchurch
• In Ecuador, One Man’s Mission to Restore a Piece of the Rainforest
• Biodiversity Risks and Opportunities: Corporate Sector Approaches
• Toitū te Ao – Sustainability Week
• Investor Water Toolkit
• A Northwest Passage Journey Finds Little Ice and Big Changes
Sustainability Matters 22nd August 2019
In this edition of Sustainability Matters you can read about;
• Environment Committee Confirms Upcoming ‘Zero Carbon’ Hearings
• It’s Farewell from TNS New Zealand
• Charity Severs Ties with Engineering Firm Over Adani Coal Mine
• Electric Scooters are Good for the Environment, Right? Here’s Why it’s Not So Simple
• Campaign to Increase ‘Product Take Back’
• Most Global Companies Have Modern Slavery in Their Supply Chains
• Making Manufacturers Responsible for Their Own Rubbish
• Who Will Pay for the Huge Costs of Holding Back Rising Seas?
• ‘Greta effect’ Leads to Boom in Children’s Environmental Books
• Michael Moore: ‘I Refuse to Let This Planet Die’
• Have Your Say on Auckland’s Climate Action
• Samsung Releases Pre-Installed App on Galaxy Note Series Touting SDGs
• Maybe the Next Great Human Achievement Will be Saving the World
• Businesses ‘Underestimating’ Speed of Low-Carbon Transition
• EDS Workshops – Reform of the RM System
• Nelson City Council – Climate Change Champion
• Social License to Operate: Lecture Series
• Climate Change & Business Conference 2019
• Under Construction: Hidden Emissions and Untapped Potential of Buildings for New Zealand’s 2050 Zero Carbon Goal