Foreword
Much has changed since we were founded a generation ago. Back in 2002, the year of our inception, the population of Aotearoa New Zealand was only 4 million. There was no Facebook or LinkedIn, and iPhones were still five years away.
Yet, amidst these changes the issues we set out to address have remained: climate change, degradation of nature, inequality and waste. Sadly, the only real change is that we now know more about the science, the impact and how much we rely on our natural systems and each other. Our collective work is more important than ever.
This report provides an overview of what we set out to achieve during the past year to address these issues, and how we performed.
There is much to celebrate:
- We expanded our suite of training to meet growing demand, with impressive results. 100% of attendees surveyed at our Leadership in Sustainable Business course and Masterclass in Communicating Sustainability said they were inspired to take positive action. In total, we had 2026 attendees across our trainings.
- We continued to inform and advise Government. This involved leading a consortium to advance the Circular Economy and Bioeconomy strategy as part of the Emissions Reduction Plan. It was exciting work that looked at the interconnection between the circular economy and emissions reduction, job creation and other benefits. We’ll use this work to inform our thinking and the knowledge gained will be woven into government programmes.
- Empowering businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, with the tools they need to progress sustainability continues to be a critical part of our work. Thanks to our project partners, our tools and resources remain freely available. Almost 55,000 users have accessed the Climate Action Toolbox since launching in 2021, and 32,000 have used our Circular Economy Directory in the last two years. That a growing number of organisations are interested in both climate and circular action brings us great hope.
- Our landmark report Regenerating Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand: The Transformative Role of Business identified barriers and enablers that businesses face when regenerating nature. It was the result of widespread research and informs much of our work on Nature today, as well as across numerous private and public sector organisations.
- The 21st year of the Sustainable Business Awards celebrated leaders and shared their inspiring stories to motivate others. It continues to be a highlight of the NZ sustainability calendar.
However, alongside these successes was the devastating loss of our dear friend and colleague Rod Oram in March. This shocked our world personally and professionally, as it did with many in our network. We worked closely with him over many years, and are still coming to grips with the huge hole he has left in the sustainability movement in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’re determined to continue his legacy by aspiring to be as focused, diligent and unrelenting in our commitment to progress as he was. We welcome the growing number of voices that are rising into the space Rod has left.
Looking ahead to next year, we are reminded of the many long-term goals, both national and international, that were set with 2025 as the deadline. How many of them were achieved?
Reports such as this enable us to track our own progress and hold ourselves to account year on year. Where we have had successes, we will challenge ourselves to do even better. Where we haven’t met targets, we will learn from experience. We encourage all organisations in New Zealand, both large and small, to do the same.
We are determined to lift our voice, and that of the thousands of businesses in our network, to accelerate change. In the words of Rod, we need to do everything, everywhere, all at once.
Finally, we could not do any of this work without the dedication of our hardworking staff, the expertise and wise counsel of our board, and the generosity of our partners. We thank you all for your contribution to the progress outlined in this report.
Jacqueline Farman (Chair) and Rachel Brown ONZM (Founder and CEO)
