“In fact, that’s one of our biggest problems. Often we want to celebrate companies that are doing really exciting things. They kind of look at us and say, ‘I don’t want to make a big deal of it,’ when we actually want to celebrate it because it inspires others.”
The coalition aims to do five-yearly snapshots charting emissions reduction progress within the membership and will publish its latest report later this year.
Its 2023 snapshot showed coalition signatories had collectively reduced their emissions by 3.6 million tonnes since joining. This amounted to a 25% reduction for those in the group since its 2018 founding, Burrell says.
“We’ll see how they’re going (in a new report this month) but my overall comment would be that despite some of the rhetoric we see globally, despite the US signalling it’s going to pull out of the Paris Agreement, and despite some of the policy changes we’ve seen over the past few months, which might indicate things are slowing down … what we’re seeing with our members is that the investments they started committing to a few years ago are now coming through in practical actions.”
Mike Burrell, New Zealand Climate Leaders Coalition.
Coalition chief executive. Photo / Dean Purcell.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015 at the COP21 conference in Paris, with the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2C, preferably to 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels. It requires all countries to set targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
To limit global warming to 1.5C, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030.
Burrell said examples of progress were dairy company Fonterra’s steady conversion of coal-fired boilers to biomass, Waste Management’s conversion of its diesel trucks to electric vehicles, which have now clocked more than two million kilometres and conversion is ongoing, and KiwiRail, with its new lower emission locomotives and replacement of diesel shunters to electric.”
I think it helps that we’ve got a very strong primary sector that is very pragmatic … people say ‘actually this is very doable’ and just go and do it. They don’t want to make a big deal out of it.
Mike Burrell
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) was delivering the Government’s new solar power on farms initiative, and banks such as ANZ, Westpac and ASB were providing hundreds of millions of dollars in sustainability-linked loans.
“These are all really big investments and long-term capital purchases they’re making over time. They’re locked into those.”
Burrell says the new snapshot statement published later this month will show a very clear commitment to the Paris Treaty ambitions.
In addition, the coalition’s next statement of ambition will be “very, very realistic” in terms of pathways different sectors will need to get there, he says.
“We’re following science-based targets where they exist and where they don’t, we’re asking our members to show international leadership. We’ve gone back and made sure there’s no gap between the commitments that CLC (the coalition) is making and the ability of signatories to be able to meet those commitments.
“Because one of the things we’ve observed internationally is that companies and organisations that back away from their commitments generally are those that haven’t actually worked through the practical steps of how they would get there.
“Perhaps it’s not as bold and sexy as making graphic promises, but what we’re saying is we’ve made our promise, which was net zero (emissions by 2050). Now we have to show practically, step by step, company by company, year by year, how we’re going to get there.”
Burrell says the key for New Zealand through the zero emissions process is “being really specific and realistic about it”.
“It’s one thing to make a commitment. It’s easy to turn up to international conferences and make commitments, but the secret is getting down to the nuts and bolts of how you do it.
“What kind of investment it requires, over what time frames, and how you make it viable.
“That’s where the CLC has been really good because got a group of climate CEOs that are leading out on this thing and can say ‘well, actually, this is not terribly hard, this is how you do it’
“That’s inspirational but it’s also pragmatism.”
No time to backpedal
Global markets haven’t softened their climate and sustainability expectations – only New Zealand has, says Sustainable Business Network founder Rachel Brown.
“While New Zealand has rolled back several climate requirements, our major trading partners have not. The rest of the world is still tightening climate and sustainability expectations, and exporters will increasingly need to demonstrate climate performance to stay competitive,” Brown says.
In fact, global rules are tightening.
The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism enters full operation next year, meaning New Zealand exporters will need credible emissions data, Brown says.
Rachel Brown, founder Sustainable Business Network
“Around 90% of the world’s largest corporates continue to report sustainability information – buyers still expect transparency. Financial institutions representing $130 trillion remain committed to net-zero through GFANZ (Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero).”
GFANZ is an independent, private financial sector initiative which aims to mobilise capital and remove barriers to investment in the global transition to net zero emissions.
Brown also notes China is strengthening ESG disclosure requirements for companies engaged in trade from next year.
New Zealand’s policy reversals and recent softenings are affecting market behaviour, Brown says.
“We’re seeing real-time shifts in business and household decisions as incentives and guidance change.
“EV registrations dropped sharply after the Clean Car Discount ended, highlighting how important incentives are, especially for middle-income households.
“There is a noticeable drop in visible engagement from corporate sustainability leaders … public statements and leadership signals have clearly softened.
“I believe that leaders/people are responding to the anti-woke messaging in New Zealand.”
Brown says EECA programme funding has been cut and reprioritised, reducing support for business decarbonisation, while the loss of Government funds has had a major slowdown effect on energy investment.
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