In a briefing released today, 150 business leaders are urging the incoming Government to work in partnership with business to build momentum towards achieving New Zealand’s zero carbon goal.

The briefing, commissioned by the Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC), represents the collective views of their members and signatories on climate action priorities.

Chair of SBC’s Advisory Board Karen Silk says the briefing contains 26 recommendations for the incoming Government to accelerate New Zealand’s transition to decarbonisation.

Its three key recommendations are: increased investment in low carbon transport; an expansion of programmes to make process heat more efficient and low carbon; and speeding up the adoption of methane reduction technologies.

“Climate action is critical to our members and signatories, both within their own businesses and through taking collective action to go further, faster. This is a valuable report.  It is a consensus view of what the priorities are for the companies represented by SBC and CLC, many of which already have their own transition plans and their own priorities for their emissions reduction plans. Solutions are specialised according to their sector or industry group,” says Ms Silk.

CLC Convenor, Mike Bennetts says, “If we are to deliver a smooth, affordable, just transition for all, we need to think about the big picture that phases in the opportunities over the short, medium and long term. This briefing sets the direction to do this.”

Mr Bennetts says that decarbonisation isn’t one single project. “We need to deliver a suite of solutions over time, and business welcomes the opportunity to work with the incoming Government to ensure favourable conditions are in place for their uptake,” he says.

Mike Burrell, SBC’s Executive Director, says, “Last year we welcomed the cross-party support in passing the Zero Carbon Act. Now we are focused on working to build momentum off the back of this consensus for the practical actions that will be necessary to accelerate New Zealand towards being a zero carbon country.

“We can do this by continuing to work together and working closely with Government to identify short term opportunities that can be actioned now, medium term opportunities that we must begin to scope and invest in, and long term solutions that we can position ourselves to take up quickly when they become available and economically viable.”

The briefing was developed following a request from the independent Climate Change Commission for SBC members and CLC signatories to consider what the key climate action priorities are for New Zealand businesses to deliver on emissions reduction targets to 2050.

The briefing is online here:

Briefing on Climate Action Priorities

To arrange an interview, or for further information please contact:

Catriona Robertson | Manager Communications | SBC
Phone | 021 242 7936

Adam Szentes | Communications | CLC
Phone | 021 265 1067

About SBC

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) is a CEO-led membership organisation with over 100 businesses from all sectors, ambitious for a sustainable New Zealand. Members represent more than $87 billion of collective turnover, 28% of GDP, and nearly 160,000 full-time jobs.  Our network gives members unparalleled influence and the ability to take large-scale collective action.  SBC is part of the BusinessNZ network and is the New Zealand Global Network partner to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. www.sbc.org.nz

About CLC

The Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) was launched in July 2018 with 60 original signatories to promote business leadership and collective action on climate change. With now over 100 signatories, they account for almost 60% of New Zealand’s gross emissions, around $86 billion of collective turnover and employ almost 200,000 people. Signatory commitments include measuring and publicly reporting their greenhouse gas emissions, setting a public emissions reduction target, and working with suppliers to reduce their emissions. www.climateleaderscoalition.org.nz

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