What does October’s energy policy announcement mean for the future of NZ’s electricity market and the climate? Law professor Barry Barton steps me through a package big on fossil fuels and very quiet on renewables.
www.podcasts.nz/unwrapping-o...
NZ's newest big storage battery is showing early signs of softening electricity prices. Climate and energy modeller Dr Jen Purdie tells me it's a step towards a low-emissions grid but we've got a long way to go:
www.podcasts.nz/big-storage-...
Auckland builder Paul Webster-Young is turning a new home for his sister into a case study for construction that sends less waste to landfill and costs less over time. He tells me how he's doing it on This Climate Business:
www.podcasts.nz/low-waste-ho...
New Zealand’s houses have come a long way since the ’70s but there’s plenty we can do to make them more sustainable. Architect Mike Hartley is designing for less building waste and that, he tells me on This Climate Business, starts by talking with the builder:
www.podcasts.nz/your-next-ho...
Petition request That the House of Representatives urge the Government to withdraw the Regulatory Standards Bill from the legislative programme. Petition reason I am petitioning the House because nearly every submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill opposed it, yet the Government plans to pass it anyway. I believe this shows disregard for public participation and democratic integrity. I think the Government is ignoring the 98.7 percent of submitters who oppose the bill and cannot be trusted to listen. I feel that Parliament must act to restore public trust by urging the Government to withdraw this Bill.
Sign this petition about the Regulatory Standards Bill, please
petitions.parliament.nz/212f27b2-98f...
What does a fat cat have to do with businesses getting real about sustainability? Andrew Davies, B Lab Australia and NZ's CEO, tells me all about it on This Climate Business:
www.podcasts.nz/fat-cats-ver...
Alison, thanks for this. A suggested question: Do the candidates recognise the widespread practice of parking on berms as a problem and, if so, what do they propose to do about it?
What would a journalist from outside New Zealand find if they ran the ruler over our current climate policies? Australian writer Royce Kurmelovs has done just that, and he tells me the answer can be rendered in two words: quiet quitting:
www.podcasts.nz/new-zealand-...
Our national emissions reduction plan isn't fit for purpose and Lawyers for Climate Action are heading to court to fix it. Jessica Palairet explains all on This Climate Business:
www.podcasts.nz/nzs-emission...
New Zealand’s dairy sector has an awful environmental record, but what if we decided to do dairy differently? Iwi-owned Miraka Limited is figuring out how to produce lower-emissions dairy based on the principles of kaitiakitanga. Miraka’s Brendan Haigh explains:
www.podcasts.nz/dairy-done-d...
I've read for a while about how Paris has got behind cycling. Now I'm here in the City of Lights and it's wonderful seeing it for real: Super-generous cycle lanes, hire bikes around every other corner, public bike pumps, you name it. Auckland has quite some way to go...
Is New Zealand's corporate climate disclosure system farsighted or just too onerous and expensive? Victoria University's Dr Yinka Moses explains a world-leading initiative now under threat:
www.podcasts.nz/climate-disc...
The industrial adhesives essential to MDF, particle board and the like are a health hazard and a $12billion business. Here's the story of a NZ company with a better, kinder glue made from recycled plastics.
www.podcasts.nz/sticky-busin...
Aotearoa has announced its most recent target for reducing greenhouse gases and at best it is modest. Newsroom's @marcdaalder.bsky.social talked me through a nationally determined contribution that contributes little:
www.podcasts.nz/climate-cont...
As sea levels rise, home insurance premiums follow. A new report from the Helen Clark Foundation and engineering consultancy WSP NZ says it’s time we sorted out how best to protect our homes. Report author Kali Mercier tells me she has some ideas:
www.podcasts.nz/the-global-w...
NZ is woefully exposed to the risks of climate change and has no coherent strategy for moving people and assets away from them. Sustainability consultant Kelly Flatz tells me that there is a national conversation about managed retreat but it is only just starting:
www.podcasts.nz/facing-up-to...
NZ businesses routinely forget assets they buy and never use – up to five million tons of them annually. Start-up Mutu’s resource-sharing app does the remembering for them and adds up the cash and carbon savings from using stuff they already own.
www.podcasts.nz/an-app-for-t...
James Hughes looks into the future and tells New Zealand’s councils just how bad life could get as a result of climate change. Very often, he says, it's where difficult conversations start:
www.podcasts.nz/staring-into...
New Zealand is responsible for more than its fair share of aviation emissions and, despite any number of plans and pathways, no quick solutions are in sight. Economist Dr Paul Callister makes the case for flying less on This Climate Business:
www.podcasts.nz/aviation-emi...
A fast-growing thicket of sustainability reporting requirements stands between NZ businesses and their export markets. Chapman Tripp's Nicola Swan and Alana Lampitt tell me what's at stake:
www.podcasts.nz/sustainabili...
It's the little things...
The courts are the next battleground for climate change activism. Simpson Grierson's Nick Chapman talked me through how climate change litigation works and where it might take us:
www.podcasts.nz/climate-chan...
#thisclimatebusiness
Sure did. And I'd happily do it again, Rohan!
Auckland Street Choir singing in support of the community by the K Road 🌈 path today. Just wanted to hug the lot of them.
Ever wanted a discounted bike or scooter under something like the UK's Cycle To Work Scheme? Here's the good news: In NZ, you can now get one. I talked to WorkRide's Connor Read about its ride to work programme for This Climate Business: www.podcasts.nz/a-sustainabl...
Climate-related disclosures are on their way; NZ's ClimateTracker can ease the compliance overhead and make sense of the data. Co-founder Dougal Watt tells me it’s as much about opportunity as it is about risk:
www.podcasts.nz/the-kiwi-com...
Armed with its own IP, NZ's Hikotron is rolling out a national network of car charging points. Here's how it is doing it:
www.podcasts.nz/watts-up-wit...
What's missing from the article? Balance, really. No mention that the public consultation was heavily in favour of the project. Or that an AT survey back in 2016 showed that 58% of K Road shoppers go there on foot, 21% by bus, and just 17% by car.
The Orsman formula: outraged business owners vent at AT, AT arrogantly ignores mayor and the general public, what will the poor drivers of Auckland do without parking right outside their GP?
Is it just me or is everyone else getting tired of the Herald's constant hit jobs on any AT initiative that removes car parking? Orsman has another piece up today, this time about the K Road upgrade, and it is typically unbalanced. Professional journalists should surely do better.
