Orba is also included in this year’s Next List - the definitive list of the most sustainable products and businesses as judged by the Sustainable Business Network.

Vincent was joined by Gillian Boucher, sustainability manager, and Scott Anderson operations manager.

https://orbashoes.eco/

And he is a keynote speaker at the NextFest conference in November 18-21 in Auckland. If you’re seeking hopeful solutions for a sustainable economy then NextFest is the place to be - a conference for entrepreneurs, investors, venture capital, technologists and thinkers. In addition to Ken keynotes include George Monbiot and filmmaker Damon Gameau and host of great Kiwi pioneers from Halter, Lodestone Energy, Daisy Lab, Climate VC Fund and pitches from start-ups and activists - culminating in the Sustainable Business Awards.

Visit SBN.org.nz or NextFest

https://pureadvantage.org/think-like-a-forest/

Alec Tang of KPMG and Joanna Silver of Westpac were both at the conference and joined Vincent to discuss their reactions.

Robin Mitchell is the founder of advisory firm Nature Positive. He is an international biodiversity management expert who advises governments, corporates and finance industry on nature climate strategies.

Government announcement here

Ekos & Sanctuary Mountain media release here

Solid was a finalist in the Sustainable Business Awards and was included in the exciting SBN Next 95 list of innovators.

Vincent spoke to Eu Jin Cheah, Global Leader, New Values Opportunities and Bryan Parkes, Head of Innovation Acceleration, both at Zespri.

See the innovation fund here: https://www.zespri.com/en-NZ/zagfund

He’s written the e handbook ‘How to build sustainability into your business strategy’ for managers across Australasia. A Kiwi with experience in the UK, Australia and the Pacific, Lee has worked for Fujitsu and Fonterra and now heads ESG Strategies, a consulting company to corporations, and he joins me from a glorious sunny Sydney.

Victoria University’s Dr Yinka Moses has studied climate reporting practices in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, and he tells Ross Inglis that cutting back on them is simply bad for business.

To expand on the paper and to explain its popularity, Vincent was joined by the lead author, Joseph Merz of the Merz Foundation.

Merz Institute

New Paper Identifies ‘Behavioural Crisis’ Driving Overshoot – Merz Institute

What’s going on - is someone skimming a profit here, is it climate change? To help us through this bitter news Vincent was joined by Richard Goatly, one of the brothers from Altezano Brothers coffee roasters. 

https://altezanobrothers.co.nz/

Vincent recorded this interview largely during an event at the Sustainable Business Network late last year.

Witnessing from the sidelines was Manu Caddie, who is part of the Indigenous Caucus, representing the Aotearoa Indigenous Rights Trust. Manu is also a champion of indigenous IP development in pharmaceuticals and natural health.

After graduating with an MA in Social Policy and Administration he moved into community working with Comic Relief and The Big Lottery fund. But his roots pulled him back to African and he now specialises in helping small-scale farmers to use trade to grow their communities, improve their income, and protect their environment. Vincent started by asking Albert to describe life for the cola farmers in Sierra Leone.

But do we need to more gas and oil? Could renewables fix the dry winter problem? And just how did we get into this mess? Vincent interviews energy expert Dr Christina Hood and Dr David Hall, a contributor to Rewiring Aotearoa.

Mutu’s resource-sharing app does the remembering for them and adds up the cash and carbon savings they make by using stuff they already own.. 

Media release

RanuiGeneration

Electrification report

 Apple Tree Book https://theseeds.nz/books/the-apple-tree/

 Seeds Podcast www.theseeds.nz

 Legal opinion on impact investing https://www.parryfield.com/impact-investing-information-hub/

So, which is it: win or lose?

This is just the sort of trade-off that interests Geoff Simmons. Working as the chief economists of the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Geoff has been wrestling with the complexities of rural land use – what’s good for farmers, what’s good for communities, for biodiversity, for Māori, for the climate and for the future generations. What we do with land, the rules and policies that govern it, has huge implications for all of us. That’s all captured in a new report from the Commissioner called ‘Going with the grain: Changing land uses to fit a changing landscape’ He spoke to Vincent.

Kaitlin Dawson is making a start. Kaitlin is head of Foodwaste Champions 12.3 and is seeking a systemic solution.  Iain Lees-Galloway is interim General Manager of Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance which represents 35 community organisations, who are feeding 5500 Kiwis with rescued food everyday. They join me today on the show.

Now, as our government throws down the welcome mat to the oil and gas industry and walks back on climate change commitments, I want to know will we see more protests and indeed is civil disobedience an effective tool in the fight against the fossil fuel industry. 

Read David’s excellent story here https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/04/inside-the-minds-of-the-oil-rig-climbing-activists/

Jayden Klinac of Anew believes so. The Anew system builds on years of trying to find a sustainable, commercially viable plant-based, recyclable, compostable, cradle-to-cradle plastic packaging solution. Brave man. Vincent spoke to Jayden ahead of his talk at the Spark Future State conference.

What is disinformation? How is it different from misinformation? Who are the main perpetrators and the victims? No one knows more about this than Byron Clark, author of ‘Fear: New Zealand's Hostile Underworld of Extremists’ and Mandy Henk an advocate for healthy, just, and vibrant digital communities.

Together they are offering a Climate Disinformation Night Class, consisting of eight-week, Zoom-based sessions via Tohatoha, an organisation creating a fairer digital world. 

Ross Inglis asked co-founder Connor Read how the scheme works.

Enter Cogo, formerly personal carbon footprint app, now being deployed by banks across Australia, NZ and the UK. Ben Gleisner, founder and entrepreneur joins Vincent to explain what’s going on with Cogo.

Indeed, the chair is a head of an oil company, and the next COP is due to be held in Azerbaijan, another petrostate and much under the thumb of Russia.

Is COP a swizz? Can it be trusted to restrict the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees?

Rod Oram was there reporting for Newsroom. Vincent spoke to him after the event.

Declaration of interest : Vincent works for the Climate VC Fund. It has just published its first annual report and impact reports.

Hikotron EV Charging - New Zealand's Electric Future

And, this one that I found surprising, 97% of signatories have identified and measured their scope 3 emissions. To discuss the coalition, its five-year milestone and how it sees a future under a new government, Vincent was joined by convenor Jolie Hodson, CEO of Spark, and by Mike Burrell, of the Sustainable Business Council.

Vincent spoke to chief executive Matt Ward.

For answers, Ross Inglis talked with Vanessa Thompson from Auckland-based sustainability strategy specialists Go Well Consulting.

TOP is a Joint Venture between NZ superfund and Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. NZ project leader is Giacomo Caleffi spoke to Vincent.

Darryn Keiller is the founder of Way Beyond, a company specialising in data and management of such indoor farms – and he joined Vincent.

 ●     Sophie Hansford - School Strike 4 Climate founder and Kapiti Coast District Councillor

●      James Shaw - Minister of Climate Change

●      Alec Tang, partner Sustainable Value, KPMG

Vincent spoke with Shannen Barns (Mindful Money), Rohan MacMahon (Climate VC Fund) and Darcy Unago (NZ Everyday Investor) for a seminar during this month’s Auckland Climate Festival.

Back then Judith Collins was Minster of Energy, there were 6000 EVs on the road and Bruno Mars was top of the pops. What’s changed since then, how is New Zealand progressing towards a renewable energy system, and how many points of 10 does Andrew give himself for his time as CEO?

You could say it’s the CCBC by the EDS and SBC and the CLC. On the agenda are the ETS, the TCFD and of course IPCC by UNFCCC. To explain all those Cs, I’m joined by Rebecca Lowe, head of communications at SBC and Antonia Burbidge head of climate and nature.

We have a climate policy problem in NZ that might be useful to share. Our ETS offers carbon credits primarily based on permanent pine forests. To meet our net zero 2050 we'll need to double our pine forests to 2.8mha. Pine trees are cheap, grow fast, and absorb lots of carbon in their first 25 years.

Sounds good, right? Not necessarily.

After 25 years growth rates slow and the trees start to die at 80. The forests tend to be mono-crops, are hostile to native flora and fauna, and are susceptible to fire, pests and storms. They also are being planted on farmland. And because there's so much planting unit prices are low and businesses find it cheaper to pay to offset their emissions, rather than invest in technology to reduce their emissions.

In fact some modelling suggests the supply of units generated by the planting of forests may exceed the number needed by emitters!

Our government is under huge pressure to change the ETS settings to better incentivise:

- restoring native forests

- reducing gross emissions

- investing in biodiversity

Starting in 2019 the bank has committed about $300m in 16 transactions to-date. Given the scale of the transition, why is it such a small sum and why is it taking so long to spend it?

What impact is it having on emissions reductions? And will the bank survive a potential change of government? To answer this and more Vincent was joined by chief officer manager Jason Patrick.

plan called Harmony promising to be climate and sustainability leader. Vincent was joined by the CEO David Banfield.

In this episode: Tina Wieczorek (right) is the CEO of the industry organisation Scaffolding, Access and Rigging New Zealand, or SARNZ, and Penny Thomson, a research manager and designer with the Environmental Solutions Research Centre, part of Auckland’s Unitec Institute of Technology.

The cyclone was blamed for a sudden change in the direction in government policy. Back in February, Minister Michael Woods announced a climate-friendly plan, in its three-year transport plan, the Government Policy Statement. For the first time it prioritised the emissions impact of transport. But just days later, he reversed many of those priorities to focus on rebuilding damaged roads.

Last week the government also announced five options for a second harbour crossing and reiterated its commitment to the tunnelled version of a light rail network.

To explain all these shenanigans, I’m joined by Dr. Christina Hood, a policy expert in climate change, energy, and carbon pricing. She has over 16 years of experience providing analysis and advice to developed and developing countries, including a former role as head of the International Energy Agency Climate Change Unit.

 Can any company be certified as B-Corp? Can the movement maintain its standards? Qiulae Wong is the first country manager for B Lab joins Vincent now to answer all this and more.

meant to think about the future – and growing anything in the ‘normal’ way?

Vincent Heeringa spoke to Brent Clothier, chief scientist with Plant &

Food, about four ways to think about growing food in a warmer and (ironically)

drier New Zealand.

Note: this was recorded before Cyclone Gabrielle devastated Hawkes bay and Tairawhiti.

Oh, wait! Vincent just spoke with Kevin Trenberth a Distinguished Scholar at the National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder Colorado and an Honorary Academic in the Department of Physics, Auckland University. Kevin is a kiwi who left New Zealand, to obtain his doctorate in meteorology in 1972 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And has continued with climate research including being a lead author on the IPCC.

Ross Inglis spoke with two people with a solution: property developer Nigel Benton and Doctor Terri-Ann Berry from Unitec Institute of Technology.

Is 2023 the year that New Zealand seizes the nettle on climate action? Or is it another year of incrementalism? And what effect will the election, with a potential change of government, have on the direction and speed of climate policy? To shed some light Vincent dusted off the crystal ball and spoke to three experts about the year ahead: Marc Daalder Newsroom’s climate reporter; Dr Victoria Hatton, director of sustainability and climate change at PWC; Rohan MacMahon, partner at the Climate Venture Capital Fund.

Is 2023 the year that New Zealand seizes the nettle on climate action? Or is it another year of incrementalism? And what effect will the election, with a potential change of government, have on the direction and speed of climate policy? To shed some light Vincent dusted off the crystal ball and spoke to three experts about the year ahead: Marc Daalder Newsroom’s climate reporter; Dr Victoria Hatton, director of sustainability and climate change at PWC; Rohan MacMahon, partner at the Climate Venture Capital Fund.

Is 2023 the year that New Zealand seizes the nettle on climate action? Or is it another year of incrementalism? And what effect will the election, with a potential change of government, have on the direction and speed of climate policy? To shed some light Vincent dusted off the crystal ball and spoke to three experts about the year ahead: Marc Daalder Newsroom’s climate reporter; Dr Victoria Hatton, director of sustainability and climate change at PWC; Rohan MacMahon, partner at the Climate Venture Capital Fund.

Full dsiclousre Vincent is an investor and a contractor to the fund.

www.Climatevcfund.com

Cleanery removes the water and the plastic bottle from household cleaners, offering

instead a sachet of cleaning powder. Simply tip the powder into any bottle, add warm water, and presto, you’ve got the beginnings of a sparkling clean bathroom or kitchen.  

Declaration of interest: Vincent does some consulting work for Cleanery and has invested a

tiny fraction via the Climate Venture Capital Fund.

https://aucklandclimatefestival.co.nz/

Karma just celebrated 10 years, a notable achievement for any brand, but especially noteworthy because 1% of total revenues goes back to the Karma Foundation, which funds health and development in Boma, Sierra Leone, the source of the Karma cola nut.

All Good Bananas also operates in an unethical industry and tries to return as much as possible to growers in Ecuador. Vincent talks with Simon about the journey to the triple bottom line.

This Climate Business is pleased to be invited to the conference and to talk about it - Vincent was joined by Mike Burrell, Executive Director of the Sustainable Business Council.

There are still online tickets available: https://tcc.eventsair.com/ccbc/

Visit the conference website here: Climate Change & Business Conference - Sustainable Business Network

the summit will feature delegations from the US, Australia, and the Pacific Islands and includes a keynote address from Karen Ross, the secretary for the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Peter Wren-Hilton is the convenor and key driver behind this event and the co-founder of Agritech NZ. Vincent asked Peter how tech is addressing the key challenges of climate change.  

Declaration: Vincent is part of the marketing team promoting this event

>> 2035 Oceania Summit https://www.2035.ag/programme/

The bikes were mostly displaced by electronic messaging, but now they’re back. Late last year managing director Steve Bonnici bought five electric cargo bikes and set them loose on the streets of Auckland. Steve told Ross Inglis how the new cargo bikes make sense environmentally and commercially.

thisclimatebusiness.com

design systems to remove those toxins in the first place, or at least capture

them and return them to the process. Building a cradle-to-cradle economy is a

mammoth task, and it’s the mission of Louise Nash, the CEO of Circularity, a

consultancy that helps companies build circular systems. She’s also the founder

of X-Labs, a workshop series that kickstarts the journey for companies as big as

Lion Breweries and as tiny as EV Maritime.

chain, and recently discovered as nanoparticles in our gut. Mmmmm nanoplastics.

The government banned single-use plastics in 2019, and is phasing out

hard-to-recycle plastics such as meat and vegetable packaging later this year,

but what to replace them with? Well, Earthpac is a New Zealand business turning

to the humble spud for a solution. It’s a potato starch tray that can be frozen

and microwave composted, and it's free from nasty toxins. Well, that sounds

good.

So why aren't we using it yet? And when will we see it at our local Four Square?

To hear more about the long journey to this fantastic solution Vincent was

joined by spokesperson Hamish Dodd.

How do we make the conversation about parking less polarising and more productive?

For the answers, Ross Inglis spoke to Dr. Tim Welch, a Senior Lecturer at Auckland University’s School of Architecture and Planning. Tim, a very public advocate around cycling infrastructure, parking, and other urbanist touchpoints, unwraps the issues and offers pointers for winning the barbecue debate about parking.

http://thisclimatebusiness.com/

Evnex CEO and founder Ed Harvey told Ross Inglis about the magic behind the plug.

This so-called carbon-farming could be a lifesaver for some though it’s a worry for others, who point out that these permanent forests are always exotic trees, especially pines – colonisation here we go again.

What we need is more native ngahere not more foreign pests. Negotiating a way through this is Tāmata Hauhā, a Māori owned carbon farming business dedicated to help Māori landowners make the most of the ETS to earn income for their marginal lands. To explain how the scheme works, Vincent spoke to founder and CEO Blair Jamieson.

The results show that who you are, where you live, and what you earn dictate what you believe and how much you’re prepared to do support climate action. Vincent is joined by Jo Bye, GM of marketing and communications at EECA.

thisclimatebusiness.com

Comvita - Mānuka Honey, Olive Leaf & Propolis | Comvita™ NZ

The stakes are high. The majority of NZ’s GHG emissions come from agriculture and for 15 years the sector has been allowed to operate outside of the ETS. The result is a steady rise in emissions in line with increasing herd numbers. Critics say the sector has no plan, and that it’s getting a free ride. They say it's high time agriculture is brought into the same scheme as every other industry.

Farmer groups say there is a plan (He Waka Eke Noa) and that the ETS is the wrong tool for managing biological emissions, especially methane. They warn that a blunt tool like the ETS will lead to perverse effects such as a massive shift from farming to pine forests, and unnecessarily damage our largest export sector.

So, the next few weeks are interesting.

What will farmers agree to? What will He Waka Eke Noa propose to Minister Shaw?

And will government agree?

Vincent was joined by He Waka Eke Noa Programme Director Kelly Forster.

A teaser: There are roles in this transition for fossil fuel incumbents and for infrastructure monopolies. Dr. Meade speaks with Ross Inglis on ThisClimate Business.

Now Jade and his family are back in New Zealand to launch Off-Piste Provisions, a plant-based food start-up dedicated to making Aotearoa as famous for its plant-protein as it is for meat. His first product is plant-based beef jerky and he joins me now to chew the um, fat. This interview first appeared on Vincent’s other podcast The Feed NZ – a podcast all about the future of food.

Transport accounts for 43% of New Zealand's carbon dioxide emissions, and more than half of these come from private vehicles. This country’s transport system has problems. Finding solutions to them was the task of Te Ara Matatika, or The Fair Path, a report released in November by the Helen Clark Foundation and consultancy WSP.

We asked author Holly Walker to explain how we can transition to an equitable and low-carbon transport system.

Replacing that list with nature-based alternatives is the mission of Humblebee, the ambitious biotech startup of Veronica Harwood Stevenson. You may have heard of Humblebee, sometimes described as one of NZ’s hottest biotech start-ups. Now fives years into the journey the Wellington company is trying to replicate a cellophane-like substance found in bees' nests to create a harmless bioplastic.

Humblebee has scored some wins. It’s sequenced the protein in question, poised to manufacture its synthetic alternative, and in the throes of a $13m capital raise. Vincent caught up with Veronica to discuss biology, bees bums, and babies.

Each year, the construction and demolition industry creates 1.7 million tonnes of waste – making up 60% of total landfill. So much of that waste is recoverable, recyclable, and unnecessary. No one cares more about solving that problem than Dr Terri-Ann Berry, Associate Professor at Auckland’s Unitec and the co-founder of the Environmental Solutions Research Centre and the aptly named Sustainable Construction Avengers. The centre works with students, industry, and scientists to tackle waste at its source and solve intractable problems such as the mounting pile of plastic that comes from construction sites.

We’d be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified. Dave has a background in physics, philosophy, and policy. Previous posts have included research positions at the University of Oxford's Departments of Physics and Geography, and as Deputy Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He has also worked at the New Zealand Treasury, and served on secondment at the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Dave Frame Profile | Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington (wgtn.ac.nz)

Reports — IPCC

See the document in question here.

And an excellent summary by Stuff

Our new co-host, Ross Inglis, talked to sustainability general manager Rosie Mercer about the new direction for the Ports of Auckland.

Introducing Ross!

This week, Vincent is joined by new co-host Ross Inglis, a Kiwi comms executive who has spent many years in Asia working in telecommunications and tech sectors. Returning to NuZild four years ago, Ross has doubled down on his passion for bikes, ditched his car and thrown his wait behind causes such as Bike Auckland.

Boring® Oat Milk (boringmilk.com)

A consortium of climate campaigners and motivated professionals is challenging the comfortable incumbent alliance of C&R, formerly known as Citizens and Ratepayers, which have dominated the Entrust board for the last 500 years. To explain what they’re up and what it all means for the climate, I’m joined by Rohan MacMahon and Dewy Sacayan, candidates in the new party which is called More For You Better for Climate.

See the More For You, Better For Climate website: https://www.moreforyoubetterforclimate.nz/

We’d be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified. Dave has a background in physics, philosophy and policy. Previous posts have included research positions at the University of Oxford's Departments of Physics and Geography, and as Deputy Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment. He has also worked at the New Zealand Treasury, and served on secondment at the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change.

See Rod’s articles on Z Energy and the MSCI report here.

See Marc’s IPCC story for Newsroom

See Victoria’s profile

Read the Report here

About Annabell Chartres 

As the ESG Co-Leader at PwC New Zealand, Annabell is driven by finding innovative business solutions to address sustainability and climate change challenges. She is focused on supporting public and private sector organisations to incorporate a sustainability lens into their business strategies, and consider and respond to the implications of climate change. https://www.pwc.co.nz/contacts/a/annabell-chartres.html

About Spark Innovation 

At Spark’s Innovation Studio you can explore and learn about emerging technologies such as IoT, 5G, mobile edge compute and mixed reality, and how they can help your business get ahead.

The space is available for businesses to ideate, create, develop, test and innovate. In our modern and functional workspace, with access to Spark’s latest network capability, you can bring your business ideas to life.

Before entering politics, she was a lawyer with Vector Energy and a community organiser of sustainability events, including Frocks on Bikes.

Plant & Mineral-Based Home, Body and Baby Care | ecostore NZ

This podcast first appeared at The Feed Weekly.

https://www.chia.co.nz/

See more about LiberateTheLane here

See the lovely picture of Mary-Margaret at the 2009 protest in David’s superb article here

Check out here this amazing climb-down from anti-cycling objectors in Vancouver when a bike lane was introduced to their harbour bridge. They now want two!

Read the Regional Land Transport Plan Here

Read Hīkina te Kohupara here

Visit 1point5 here

Check out Sean Weaver and Ekos here

https://happycowmilk.co.nz/

Check out the two businesses profiled:

Mutu and Medsalv – both Christchurch-based circular businesses winning by doing good!

Vincent grabbed a few minutes with some of the key contributors to ask why does this matter and what would look like if you succeeded? He started with Sir Stephen Tindall, followed by Dame Anne Salmond and then Peter Berg, chairman of Tāne’s Tree Trust, and Sheridan Ashford and Adrian Loo, of Future Foresters.

Visit Micromobility here

About Oliver

Oliver Bruce is an angel investor and co-host of the Micromobility Podcast with Horace Dediu. Previously, he was with Uber in Australia and New Zealand working on strategic projects and business development. He lives in Wellington, New Zealand.

https://micromobility.io/our-team

Visit Newsroom’s coverage here

Visit the Climate Change Commission here

This week I ask Rohan MacMahon about Project Drawdown, most comprehensive list of greenhouse gas reductions projects, from peat farming and poo fuel to photosynthetic paint and synthetic cows.

>> The World's Leading Resource for Climate Solutions: https://www.drawdown.org/

This week I ask Jo Spratt of Oxfam NZ to explain climate justice. Not everyone will experience the consequences of climate crisis in equal measure. The most vulnerable are typically the already most disadvantaged. So how do we ensure just outcomes for the poor and the most climate-affected?

This week I ask Eloise Gibson, climate change editor of Stuff, to explain the role of methane in global heating, why it’s such a contended topic and whether emitting gas through mammalian orifices will ever be acceptable in polite company.

This week I ask Alex Johnston of Oxfam NZ to explain climate finance – the arcane world of country-by-country commitments to fund the transition to a low-carbon world. Who sets these sums, who pays and who ensures that promises are fulfilled? 

This week I ask Barry Coates of Mindful Money to explain shareholder activism and how it is checking the behaviour of polluting and unethical companies.

Full disclosure: Vincent helped Shane write the NZ Herald article in his capacity as a public relations consultant. But the data and the opinions are all Shane’s – and this interview was not paid for.

Read Shane’s article here

Read the Climate Plan here

Read Todd Niall’s excellent summary here

The declaration has been a long time coming and follows the example of many other countries and cities, including some in NZ. So what is a climate emergency? What difference will it make? And what other ‘emergencies’ get bumped off the agenda as a result? With me to discuss this move are two climate campaigners and rational optimists:  Melissa Clark-Reynolds, a professional director and futurist who was the first New Zealander to train with Al Gore, when he was still a thing and Rohan MacMahon, a technology investor and adviser with the Punakaiki Fund.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-better-packaging-co/?originalSubdomain=nz

Visit Pathfinder here: https://www.path.co.nz/

About Deborah and Kiwi Harvest

Deborah has worked in the public health system, various law firms and is an invited lecturer at the University of Otago as well as a member of the Board of Advisors of the University of Otago Legal Issues Centre (UOLIC). Deborah is the co-chair of New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 – a coalition of 12 Champions from New Zealand’s food supply chain who are committed to halving food waste by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3) and being a leading voice in advocacy, strategy and education on food waste issues.

Find out more about Kiwi Harvest here.

And discover some mind-blowing data about food waste at Love Food Hate Waste

https://mevo.co.nz/

Join Vincent and Gary as they traverse the Waitakere Ranges, the Hauraki Gulf, the McKenzie Country and a mercifully brief summary of the RMA reforms.

About Gary Taylor CNZM, QSO

Gary is the executive director and chairman of EDS and has extensive experience in corporate governance, having been the Chairman of the Auckland Area Health Board, the Climate Change and Business Centre (Australia) and the Peoples Centre Health Trust. He has been a director of Watercare Services Ltd, Infrastructure Auckland, the Queen Elizabeth National Trust, the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and the Hobsonville Land Company. He has also been a city and regional councillor. Gary is an experienced environmental policy analyst and consultant and is currently Executive Director of EDS.

Gary was awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours.

EDS’ signature event Climate and Business is happening November 11-12. 

Anyway, with me to discuss the study and no doubt slap me for being so negative was one of the report's authors Dr Bradley Case, Senior Lecturer in the Applied Ecology Department at AUT. I was joined too by Dr David Hall, also of AUT, who has co-authored a related report on the carbon sequestration potential of our native forests, which we will discuss very soon. Listeners may be familiar with David’s previous star appearances on this show so welcome back David and welcome Brad.

Episode Links:

You can read the Beef and Lamb report here

And the Aotearoa Circle Report here

Co-founder Forbes Elworthy is the fourth generation of Elworthys to own  Craigmore Station, one of Canterbury’s largest sheep and beef farms. He has big shoes to fill: his father, Sir Peter Elworthy, led Federated Farmers during the turbulent economic reforms of the 1980s and was on the board of the Reserve Bank. He was also a founder of the Sustainability Council which successfully opposed the release of genetically modified organisms in New Zealand. Farming and a love for the land are clearly in Forbes's blood, but what does that mean in the 21st century? And how are New Zealand farmers responding to the climate and ecological crisis?

Episode Links:

See more about Craigmore Sustainables here.

Also read Craigmore’s latest summary of sustainability trends in agriculture here

Visit Map of Ag, Forbes’ data management business here.

About Brent

Brent Ogilvie is co-founder and Managing Director of Pacific Channel. You can see some of the Pacific Channel’s companies here.

And check out Vortex Power Systems here.

Read the plan here:

Read a good summary by Todd Niall here

About Jez Weston

Jez has 15 years’ experience in policy and climate advice including translating climate science into mitigation and adaptation policy advice. He has more recently been involved in research investment and commercialisation. His background is in physical science, engineering, and economics. He has a PhD from Cambridge University.

@happyinmotion

About Rohan McMahon

Rohan has 25 years’ experience as a management consultant, strategic planner and corporate executive first with Accenture (then Andersen Consulting), then an Internet start-up, followed by executive roles at Telstra Australia. In 2010 he took on the role of strategy director at Crown Fibre Holdings Ltd and was appointed to the NZ Government’s Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Ministerial Advisory Group. 

https://www.wollemi.nz/aboutus/

@rohmac

I was joined by Newsroom journalist Marc Daalder and by Greenpeace energy spokesperson Amanda Larsson to discuss the policy.

Read Marc’s excellent article about the policy here

Read Greenpeace’s statement about the policy here

Read the Labour Party policy statement here

Visit Trees that Count here

About DriveElectric

Drive Electric is a not-for-profit with one goal – making electric vehicle ownership in New Zealand mainstream. Its members represent the full e-mobility ecosystem: finance, automotive, infrastructure, energy and government.

https://driveelectric.org.nz/

About Andrew

Andrew is a Tasmanian and experienced energy executive, having spent 23 years as a drilling engineering and senior executive for Todd Energy, Woodside Energy and Maersk Oil. In 2017, he co-founded Hiringa along with finance executive (and his wife) Cathy and business partner and hydrogen expert Dan Kahn.

See Andrew, Cathy and Dan’s profiles here

About Hiringa

Hiringa is a Taranaki-based energy company specialising in hydrogen project development, hydrogen technologies, renewable power generation and fuel cell integration.

Visit Hiringa here

Founded in 2012 as the first pan-Pacific solar power utility by a group of entrepreneurs and veteran investors including ANZ Oceania CEO Bob Lyon.

Our mission is to secure a brighter, more productive future for the people of New Zealand and the Pacific Islands by providing high quality, clean, affordable energy. Increasing solar in the energy mix helps to reduce crippling fuel import bills and protect the natural environment that entices visitors from all over the world. In partnership with our customers, Sunergise is rapidly accelerating the adoption and installation of solar PV panels in the Pacific region. Our solar power creates energy independence and protection from rising oil prices. As part of developing a business with sustainability at its core, we aim to make clean energy affordable to all. 

About Sunergise

• Sunergise began operations with the introduction of the world’s largest installation for a marina at Port Denarau in Fiji.
• In 2014 The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) took a stake in the business.
• The Sunergise group is the leading solar power services company in the Pacific Island region, with a growing portfolio of solar projects in Niue, Nauru, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
• In 2019 Todd Corporation via Todd Generation Limited took a majority stake in Sunergise New Zealand Limited and Sunergise International Limited.
• The investment will boost solar power generation in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
• To date over 13 MW of clean power has been installed and over 20 gigawatt-hours of electricity produced by Sunergise.

https://www.sunergisegroup.com/

About Robert

Professor Robert McLachlan is a mathematician at Massey University. He’s also co-author of one of NZ’s most popular climate change blogs Planetary Ecology. A recent post about cats drew worldwide following, confirming everything we suspected about the Internet. 

You can visit Planetary Ecology here

Read Robert’s blog about Ireland here

Learn more about Ireland’s Climate Action Plan here

See some videos of cats here

About Scott

Scott is the MP for Coromandel since 2011 and previously held roles in business including being CEO of children's charity Make-A-Wish New Zealand. He is also co-chair of the Blue-Greens, the National Party’s environmental think tank.

So how will it get there? What’s got to start? And stop? And what does it mean for business and the citizens? For answers, Vincent was joined Dr David Hall co-chair of the independent advisory group of the ACAP and by Jenny Cooper QC the president of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.

Read more about the Auckland Climate Action here:

Useful summary: from Our Auckland

Transport implications: Todd Niall in Stuff 

Budget implications: Simon Wilson in NZ Herald

The Action Plan itself: Read it and whoop

About our guests

Jenny Cooper QC is the president of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.

Dr David Hall is a senior lecturer at AUT and at the Policy Observatory. He was the co-chair of the independent advisory group of the ACAP.

About Mindful Money

Mindful Money provides free insights into the investments of KiwiSaver funds. Only 1% of current KiwiSaver funds exclude investments in porn, gambling and animal cruelty. Only 2% exclude fossil fuels. Mindful Money allows you to choose your ethical criteria and recommends the funds that match. It gets paid a small fee when you switch funds. Check it out.

Amazon reviews of More from Less

Critical review by Foreign Affairs magazine

Andrew McAfee’s Ted Talk about More from Less

EV Podcast: https://evpodcast.com

This Climate Business: https://www.podcasts.nz/this-climate-business/

About James

James is the publisher of the multi-award-winning New Zealand Geographic, an adventurer and advocate for the great outdoors. In 2019 he was a named a Blake Leader by the Sir Peter Blake Trust for his work in using virtual reality to showcase undersea habitats.

Visit NZ Geo

See the VR work

And read the State of the Gulf report

About Noho

Noho – meaning to sit or to dwell in te reo – is a Wellington-based sustainable furniture maker with strong connections to Formway Furniture – the company that brought us the amazing Life Chair. 

https://nz.noho.co/

About Richard

Richard Shirtcliffe is the founding CEO of Noho, and former boss of much-loved Kiwi brands Phil&Teds, Tuatara Beer and Coffee Supreme. 

About Marty

Marty Verry is the CEO of Red Stag Timber, NZ’s largest and most advanced timber mill, based in Rotorua. A surfer, dad and convert to climate action, Marty started his sustainability journey after seeing the human impact on the ocean and the opportunity forestry can play in solving our emissions problem – if done right.

Rod Oram is a business journalist specialising in sustainable development, writing for Newsroom.

Amanda Larsson is the Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace NZ and an author of the Green New Deal, a plan to accelerate NZ’s progress to a low-emissions future.

Jenny Cooper QC is the president of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ.

Institure of Awesome: https://inawe.nz/

The pair have had success before. They convinced the government to create the role of chief technology officer, which had a few wobbles but finally occurred in 2019. This latest idea is gaining momentum. I asked if it’s wishful thinking for New Zealand to plan long term.

About Rod and Roger

Rod Drury is the founder of Xero. He stepped down as CEO in 2018 but remains on the board and is involved in start-ups. Roger Dennis is an analyst and innovation consultant with a speciality in scenario planning for large companies and government agencies.

https://carbonclick.com/

Paul says we need to stop building roads – we have enough. In urban areas we need to shift people into bikes, scooters and public transport. Nationally, we must replace ICE cars and trucks with EVs and build a country-wide charging infrastructure similar in scale to the ultra-fast broadband rollout.

“The good news is that all these technologies exist and are commercially viable. And people want to make the change. The missing piece now is political action.”

About Dr Paul Winton:

Paul Winton has a PhD in engineering, is a former McKinsey consultant and is founder of Temple Capital Investment Specialists. His day job is to advise investors on what companies to start or to buy. But 18 months ago Paul saw news that stopped him in his tracks. As a result, he launched 1point5 Project with the support of Sir Stephen Tindal and others to educate and inspire leaders to reach zero emissions by 2030.

It turns out, some things are too hot to handle, even for the grown-ups.

Note, we’re not talking about healthy scepticism, which is to be encouraged. Argument is good! Denial is a commitment to opposition that is defiantly irrational. So where does denial come from and how can it be adddressed?

Also, please note, the first part of the interview was done in our respective lounges during lockdown. My incompetence with tech means the quality of the recording is sub-optimal and leaves out my questions. It’s all about David anyways. Apologies.

About David:

David Hall a Lecturer at AUT, a contributor to business think-tank Pure Advantage and founder of sustainability consulting firm Mōhio and its newly launched Climate Innovation Lab. He has written numerous books and reports including the Climate Finance Landscape for the Ministry for the Environment, which formed much of its thinking behind its climate finance strategy and the recent BWB Text, A Careful Revolution: Towards a Low Emissions Future.

He is Co-chair for the Independent Advisory Group for Auckland Council’s Climate Action Plan, and a member of the Technical Working Group for Aotearoa Circle’s Sustainable Finance Forum. Just for fun he also engages in practical projects, such as conceptual design for the Trees That Count initiative, co-designing an innovative financial instrument – the Native Forest Bond Scheme – to establish continuous-cover-forest on erosion-prone land, and establishing native restoration sites - called AUT’s Living Laboratories - around Auckland to better understand the environmental impacts of native trees.

Climate change denialism is pretty much the subject of his PhD thesis gained at the University of Oxford.

Links:

• This Climate Business
• Podcasts NZ

"I hope that this transition can be done smoothly. But we're running out of time. I fear it will be far more disruptive than 2008 and 1987. It will involve the loss of trillions. But it will happen, if it hasn't started already," he says.

I spoke to Sir Jonathon in early March when he delivered a stunning address to the Institute of Directors in which he pointed to three early warning signs that the fossil fuel funeral is imminent. You can read my blog about that talk here - or just listen to the man himself.

The podcast also features touching comments about his friend and great New Zealander Sir Rob Fenwick, who died only days after this interview. Sir Rob died after a 'dance with cancer' but his work lives on in the form of the Aotearoa Circle and the Sustainability Council and in the many hundreds, if not thousands, of lives he affected. His parting shot was an urgent plea to all New Zealanders: remember the trees.

- Vincent Heeringa

Links:

This Climate Business
Podcasts NZ