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SIGnals Issue Eight

February 2007, INFO 185

Welcome to this issue of SIGnals, the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment's e-newsletter linking you to advice and information on what's happening in the world of sustainable business.

SIGnals contains updates, tools, resources and case studies focused on helping industry compete and grow sustainably.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us via signals@mfe.govt.nz (or to have your name added or removed from the SIGnals mailing list), or phone (04) 439 7400.

In this issue...

The latest on sustainable industry initiatives:

Other Ministry news:

Link to additional Ministry projects and tools:

The Government’s announcements on sustainability

The Prime Minister’s statement at the opening of Parliament on 13 February 2007 outlined a number of sustainability initiatives that will accelerate New Zealand’s sustainable development. These initiatives will be further developed with input from business, local and central government. Full details are expected to be announced in May 2007. The initiatives are:

A new drive to cut down on waste and make it easier to dispose of, including:

  • a network of public recycling stations
  • creation of a waste levy to fund projects to encourage recycling and recovery
  • regulation to allow for mandatory product stewardship, including recognition of existing industry sponsored schemes.

Issues requiring legislation – including the creation of a waste levy – will be worked through in Parliament, for example in the development of the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill. The Bill is currently before the Local Government and Environment Select Committee. Visit the Ministry’s waste issues web page for the latest information.

Business partnerships for sustainability

This initiative will make it easier for New Zealand businesses to access and implement sustainable business practices, and builds on existing government work programmes.

The Government will use its purchasing power to grow the market for environmentally friendly products, including paper, cleaners, plastics and fuel efficient vehicles. In particular:

  • public service departments will be required to create more sustainable workplaces, including greater use of renewable energy and recycling
  • the Government will provide comprehensive information about ecolabels and standards that are good indicators of environmental sustainability
  • the Government will increase the number of product types that carry the Government’s own Environmental Choice NZ ecolabel, to assist government departments in implementing the new policy and encourage more suppliers to adopt sustainable practices.

It will be mandatory for all 34 core public service agencies to be on a path to carbon neutrality by 2012.

From April 2008, 3.4 percent of the total fuel sold by oil companies is required to be biofuel by 2012.

The Government will develop a campaign to raise awareness of what households can do to fight climate change, improve energy efficiency, save money and reduce waste.

For further details on all initiatives, plus information on government work programmes in these areas, please visit the Ministry's website.

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Your say on climate change policy options, and new publications

From December 2006 to 30 March 2007, the Government is consulting on options for long term and transitional climate change policies.

The Government would like your feedback on the draft energy strategy and other climate change discussion papers and strategies. For more information, please visit our climate change website.

One area under discussion is sustainable land management and climate change. The Government is seeking direct feedback from farmers and foresters on ways to deal with climate change issues. Farmer and forester forums are being held around the country in February and March 2007. Regional hui are also being held to discuss the Government’s wider climate change and energy plans with Māori.

A discussion document proposes options to help the agricultural and forestry sectors deal with the effects of climate change. Submissions on the discussion document close on 30 March 2007.

Climate change publications

The Ministry for the Environment has developed three new climate change booklets. The booklets provide accessible information about climate change, and everyday tips on how New Zealanders can make a difference. They also include maps of the likely impacts on New Zealand, and the substantial cost associated with weather-related disasters.

The booklets are available on request and are free of charge. To order them, please email publications@mfe.govt.nz, or call (04) 439 7400.

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Seminar series for business: Sustainable business - Sustainable environment

Is your business looking for ways to save money, improve staff retention, and gain market advantage? Embracing sustainability is a great way to achieve these benefits.

The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce and Ministry for the Environment are hosting a series of seminars in the Wellington regions, Marlborough, Kapiti, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wairarapa, and Hawke’s Bay, between March and May 2007, showing how sound environmental practices are good for business as well as the environment.

These seminars are a great opportunity for businesses to learn how to implement sustainable business practice in their own organisations, and therefore directly participate in some of the initiatives outlined by the Prime Minister in her statement at the opening of Parliament.

In addition to cost savings, some businesses are finding they can secure market advantage by promoting their environmentally friendly practices. Visit the Ministry's website to find out about New Zealand businesses that have benefited from sustainable business practice.

The seminars have a mix of private sector and government agency speakers, and include case studies from businesses with a successful track record in sustainable business practice. The seminars will point attendees towards programmes where they can achieve recognised environmental management certification or awards for sustainability.

For further information on the seminars, including dates and venues, visit the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce website. To register for a seminar, contact the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce events team at registrations@wellingtonchamber.co.nz

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Meridian Energy’s growing commitment to sustainability

Meridian Energy is raising the standard of building practices in New Zealand. The construction of Meridian’s Wellington corporate office will set new best practice environmental performance standards in commercial office buildings.

Meridian Energy decided to prove that a commercial sustainable building is viable from an economic, social, cultural and environmental perspective. Wellington Waterfront Ltd also believed having a ‘green’ building was a good idea, given it was to be built within the Kumutoto precinct on Wellington’s historic and widely used waterfront.

The building, owned by Dominion Funds and currently under construction, was designed by Studio of Pacific Architecture. Meridian chose the Kumutoto design for its visual representation of Meridian’s commitment to sustainability.

“The planning and design of Meridian’s building is a great example of sustainable business practice”, said Rachel Depree, the Ministry’s General Manager for sustainable industry.

Meridian Energy is sharing what they learnt during this process by gifting their RFP (request for proposal) document to those undertaking similar projects. This document is available on the Ministry’s website. Various government agencies are already using this document as the basis of their own RFPs.

Meridian Energy also created a case study of their planning process. The case study is available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website. This will be followed by a second case study highlighting what was learnt during the construction phase.

Dominion Funds hopes that Meridian Energy’s new building will be one of the first to be rated under Green Star NZ. Green Star NZ is a new tool for office design that evaluates the environmental initiatives and the potential environmental impact of new and refurbished commercial office building designs. Green Star NZ was developed by the New Zealand Green Building Council.

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Formway Furniture demonstrates the business case for sustainable business practice

Formway Furniture is one New Zealand business taking advantage of the growing segment of the New Zealand consumer market that actively seeks products and services that reflect environmental and social values. This segment of the market is prepared to pay a premium for such products and services.

Moxie Design Group has researched this market segment, and defines consumers belonging to it as solution seekers. Moxie sees this growing segment becoming the dominant New Zealand market in the near future. This market is a massive opportunity for businesses interested in innovative and sustainable product and service solutions.

As the Prime Minister said in her statement at the opening of Parliament, business has a big contribution to make to improving New Zealand's overall sustainability. The worldwide interest in sustainability also creates commercial opportunities that business in New Zealand can take advantage of.

Formway Furniture offers sustainable design solutions in the office furniture sector. Sustainable business practice at Formway is about getting the balance right, making the company and its products ‘sustainable’ as opposed to merely ‘environmentally-improved, for example:

  • Formway is striving to cut emissions, reduce solid wastes and eliminate and significantly minimise potentially hazardous substances in products and processes.
  • Formway design teams are constantly searching for new materials and technologies to ensure future products are at the leading edge of commercial environmental product design.
  • Formway recognises that its suppliers’ efforts are vital to deliver a sustainable production system. Supplier environmental requirements and continuous improvement actions are part of routine supplier dialogue.
  • Formway has joined the Landcare Research EnviroSmart scheme to achieve EnviroMark certification for its environment management system.

To find our more about Formway Furniture’s sustainable business practice, read their case study on the Ministry's website.

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Other news

Next Ministry/Industry liaison meetings

The Ministry for the Environment will host Industry liaison meetings in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in April 2007.

Representatives from key industry sectors around New Zealand are invited to these meetings. The meetings provide updates from the Ministry about initiatives relevant to New Zealand industry, and also include open discussion on topics relevant to sustainable business practice.

Please phone (04) 439 7407 or email signals@mfe.govt.nz if you’d like to attend these meetings.

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Simply Sustainable: a web toolkit for sustainable business practice

Simply Sustainable provides practical tools, resources, guides and case studies to enable sustainable business practice.

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Get Sustainable Challenge - Sustainable Business Network

The Sustainable Business Network runs the Get Sustainable Challenge, supported by the Ministry for the Environment. The Challenge assesses participating business and helps improve sustainable business practice through the use of dedicated resources and workshops.

Each participating business has automatic entry into the annual Get Sustainable Challenge Awards, where businesses are recognised regionally and nationally for their efforts in sustainability.

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Envirosmart programme

EnviroSmart® helps New Zealand businesses improve their environmental performance and resource efficiency.

Envirosmart offers many benefits to participating businesses, and an extensive package combining on-site and off-site assistance.

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Sustainable Business Practice defined

The Ministry is interested in your views on what sustainable business practice means to your organisation.

With increasing talk of ‘sustainability’, we are interested in your views – especially from a business perspective. One definition is: “Sustainability means living and working in a way which meets the needs of communities or countries, without compromising the wellbeing of future generations”.

What does sustainability and sustainable business practice mean to you? Send your views to signals@mfe.govt.nz. We will publish a selection of your views in the next edition of SIGnals, plus give away special prizes for the best entries.

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