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 9th November 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• 2023 Earthshot Prize Winners Announced
• Advances in Refrigeration at the Farm
• The Gulf of Mexico’s Revival Starts in Tiny Wetlands 600 Miles Away
• Australia’s Sustainable Finance Strategy
• Westpac Becomes First Bank with Zero Deforestation Target
• Study to Ascertain Capitals Approach Knowledge Gaps
• 10 New(ish) Book Recommendations for Fall Reading
• Eco-Business A-List 2022
• 2023 Take Charge Christchurch Expo
• The Liveability Challenge 2024
• Leadership in Sustainable Business Course
• How Corporate Action on Deforestation Stacks Up to New Regulatory Risk
• GRI Standards Certified Training Course
• Home Roofing – A New Marketing Ploy
• Plain Language Awards 2023
• The Behavioural Crisis Driving Ecological Overshoot
• A Concerted Effort to Build Social Cohesion is Needed
• Winners of 14th Reuters Events Responsible Business Awards.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 26th October 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• XRB Publishes Comparison Document for NZ CS and IFRS S1 and S2
• Research: Rapid Ice Melt in West Antarctica Now Inevitable
• Climate Ready Australia National Summit
• Continued Progress on Ambition Contrasts with Lack of Detailed Action Plans
• How Congruent is Budget 2023 with New Zealand’s Climate Commitments?
• EU Reaches Deal on Exit Schedule from Climate-wrecking F-gases
• Climate Outlook for Aotearoa Predicts Rivers in the Sky, Heatwaves in the Sea
• Degrowth for a New Generation
• Possums, Rats, Stoats and Old Scooter Batteries
• The Planet’s Big Blue Machine: Why the Ocean Engine Matters
• The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works
• A Director’s Guide to Mandatory Climate Reporting
• Multidimensional Disadvantage and Wellbeing
• Sustainability Leaders Summit 2023
• Water from Abandoned Coal Mines Heating Buildings
• How Coke Killed the Refillable Bottle
• Australia Breaches WHO Treaty with Carbon Neutral Certification of Big Tobacco Company
• Transition Plan Taskforce Unveils ‘Gold Standard’ Climate Disclosure Frameworks
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 12th October 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• Prince William Unveils 15 Global Finalists for the 2023 Earthshot Prize
• Insights of President of Federated Farmers About Pricing of Farm Emissions
• New Publication: The Role of Integrated Thinking
• Best-ever Sustainability Communications
• Sustainable Finance – How Investor Demand is Changing How Businesses Finance
• Nature Meets Business: What Does the TNFD Mean for the Private Sector?
• State of the Nation Report: E-Mobility in New Zealand 2023
• 5 Takeaways from the Big Climate Change and Business Conference
• Sustainable Business Awards Event 2023
• Pioneering Change: What can New Zealand Learn from Wales?
• Some Tips from thinkstep-ANZ
• Rapid-Growth Micro-Forests are Greening Cities 10 Times Faster
• Real World Test Shows All-Electric Big Rigs Can Go Farther and Charge Faster
• N Z’s Largest Insurer Begins ‘Retreat’ from Flood-prone Homes
• SBC Reporting Toolbox
• Exposed: Carbon Offsets Linked to High Forest Loss Still on Sale
• Architect’s Own $500,000 Passive House
• Owners of Energy Inefficient UK Homes Face being Turned Down for Mortgages
• Do Businesses Still Care About the Sustainable Development Goals?
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 28th September 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• NZ’s Biggest Freshwater Springs Granted Highest Legal Protection
• Top Carbon Offset Projects May Not Cut Planet-Heating Emissions
• Now we Have Two New Sustainability Disclosure Standards, What’s Next?
• Putting Green Jobs in the Curriculum
• Sustainability Essentials – Micro Course
• Sustainability Reporting – Micro Course
• Accounting and Audit Seminar 2023: Sustainability in the Face of Recession
• ‘War Is Good for Business,’ Declares Executive at London’s Global Arms Fair
• Accounting for the Future
• Will this [NZ] Summer be Too Hot for Work?
• From Carbon Sink to Source: The Stark Changes in Arctic Lakes
• Southern Ocean’s Shrunken Sea Ice Has Entered ‘New State’
• Impact Accounting ‘Urgently’ Needed – Roche’s Hoffmann
• TNFD Launches Framework on Nature-related Risk Reporting
• Low-Income Housing Made from Coffee Waste
• Why We Need to Get Better at Measuring Scope 3 Emissions
• The Transition from Academia into Policy Advocacy
• California Approves USA’s Most Sweeping Emissions Disclosure Rules for Big Business
• Concrete 30% Stronger with Coffee Grounds
• We Can Produce Our Own Power: Community Energy Projects in Aotearoa.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 14th September 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• The Road to Net Zero of 14 Peak Accounting Bodies
• Global Stocktake on Climate Change Agreement
• AUS$150 trillion of Investors Call for Mandatory Reporting of Climate Transition Plans
• Microplastics Are Filling the Skies. Will They Affect the Climate?
• Saving the Planet Without the Bullshit: What They Don’t Tell You About the Climate Crisis
• The Safety Leader’s Role in ESG’s Social Pillar
• Staff Guidance: Transition Planning
• Islands in a Rising Ocean
• CBA’s New Fossil Fuel Lending Rules
• The Terrifyingly Accurate World of Kim Stanley Robinson: The Ministry for the Future
• How to Successfully Create the Next National Plan to Cut Emissions
• Efforts to Accelerate NZ Native Biodiversity
• Roadmap to Net-Zero Carbon for New Zealand’s Concrete Industry
• Resiliency in the Ashes
• In New Scramble for Africa, an Arab Sheikh is Taking the Lead
• Climate Action Workshop – Using the Climate Fresk Model
• Finalists Announced for 2023 Sustainable Business Awards
• World-first Court Settlement – Climate Risk for Government Bonds.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 31st August 2023
In this edition of Sustainability Matters in which you can read about;
• Learning Through Doing: The Role of Academia in Driving Sustainability
• Critics of ‘Degrowth’ Economics Say it’s Unworkable – But from an Ecologist’s Perspective, it’s Inevitable
• Unexpected Benefits of Having Bank Branches in Local Communities
• Framing Messages Around the Climate Emergency
• The Transition to an ‘Economy of Enough’
• Sir Jonathon Porritt Accuses the Two Chrises Failing at Climate Leadership
• To Avoid Doubt Company Directors Now Have Enhanced Clarity About Their Duties
• Calls for ‘Ecocide’ Law in Scotland to Punish Those Who Destroy Nature Like War Criminals
• Funding to Upgrade Hot Water Heating
• Potential of Rock Dust to Draw Down Huge Amounts of Carbon Dioxide
• To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower?
• Report of the Expert Working Group on Managed Retreat: A Proposed System for Te Hekenga Rauora/Planned Relocation
• Oil Exec Joined the BlackRock Board Weeks Before Government Climate Announcement
• Sustainability: The Power of Industry Associations
• An Alternative to Plastic Building Wrap
• Disappearance of Vultures Can Have Unforeseen Consequences – for Humans Too.
To see the newsletter click here.
Sustainability Matters 17th August 2023
Welcome to another edition of Sustainability Matters; the first in four weeks. While I did contemplate an edition of more than 4 pages to make up for the shortfall, I perceived you may already have too much to read, and providing more might not be helpful for most readers. With that in mind here are the item’s I’ve curated for you;
• Crucial Global Climatic System Could Face Tipping Point in Two Years
• Removing Carbon from Earth’s Atmosphere May Not ‘Fix’ Climate Change
• Climate Change Means Farms Must Adapt
• Just Transitions Guide to Help Aotearoa New Zealand Communities
• Talk About It: How Climate Conversation Groups Inspire Action
• Citizens’ Assemblies Give Hope for Reinvigorating Democracy
• Disaster Recovery Efforts Can Service More than One Goal
• ETS Judicial Review Success
• The Colour of Grass Roots: Diversifying the Climate Movement
• Development of a Company‐Level Cost‐Benefit Analysis Framework
• Regenerating Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand: The Transformative Role of Business
• Scaling Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3): Learnings from the First Movers
• Masterclass: Communicating Sustainability
• Climate Action Aotearoa. The Funders Commitment on Climate Action
• How Do Australian Banks Stack Up on Climate Action?
• Don’t Let a Good Story Get in the Way of the Truth
• Training: Asking Climate Questions at Candidate Meetings
• ‘Old ladies’: How Senior Swimmers Clean Up
• Over 85% of Vietnam’s Major Businesses Commit to ESG Standards
• Mainstream Economists Accused of Playing Down Climate Threat
• Weaving Climate and Ecological Resilience into Our Whenua.
To see the newsletter click here.