Business has a role to play in improving and protecting NZ

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) acknowledges the Environment Aotearoa 2019 report released today by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ.

"Members of the Sustainable Business Council, as well as the Climate Leaders Coalition, are working on many fronts to show kaitiakitanga, reduce their emissions, and enhance their communities. This report provides valuable data to guide their efforts. But we expect it will also act as a prompt to raise their ambitions for further action.

"Many of our members are using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help define their sustainability strategy. These indicators provide the specific New Zealand context to help them achieve the SDGs that they are working towards.

"The natural environment is an important part of what we value about living in New Zealand and many businesses are now very conscious of the role they play.

"The Good Life 2.0 Playbook New Zealand, produced recently by SBC and Colmar Brunton, shows that appreciating nature is one of the key things that New Zealanders associate with having a good life.

"The Better Futures report released earlier this year by Colmar Brunton showed that New Zealanders are highly concerned about the build-up of plastic in the environment, pollution of our waterways, and climate change. Encouragingly, it also found that a growing number (4 out of 10) New Zealanders are highly committed to living sustainable lifestyles.

Businesses are responding to these concerns. For example, Countdown and The Warehouse Group were leaders in phasing out single-use plastic bags. Multiple businesses partner with the Department of Conservation on their valuable initiatives. More than 85 businesses have now joined the Climate Leaders Coalition, and many businesses are taking the lead on rolling out electric vehicles in their fleets.

We appreciate anything government can do to make it easier to take action, and we hope individuals in their communities will support these actions.

References:

https://www.climateleaderscoalition.org.nz/

http://www.sbc.org.nz/resources/reports/sbc-reports/good-life-playbook

https://www.colmarbrunton.co.nz/news/better-futures-report/

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