Bridging Finance and Community: Caleb Poe on Sustainability, Representation, and Action

*The views expressed by this Rangatahi member are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of the organisation(s) they represent.

Caleb Poe - BNZ

Senior Finance Analyst

“ Fakalofa Lahi Atu Kia Mutolu Oti, Talofa Lava, warm Pacific Greetings koe higoa haaku ko Kalepa Tanielu Poe. Ko au koe fuata Niue mo Samoa. Gahua Haaku Mogonei Tanaki Tupe Ha Niu Silani”

Which loosely translates to…

Welcome (both in Samoan & Niuean), warm pacific greetings, My name is Caleb Daniel Poe. I am Niuean & Samoan. I work at the bank of New Zealand.

Many of your RAP (Rangatahi Advisory Panel) colleagues are from the sustainability and community space.  You are a finance guy, so do you feel like that's a strength? And what does it mean that you bring to the table as a RAP participant?

Although my profession is finance, I see myself contributing to this panel through my personal beliefs,experiences and the work that I've done in my Pacific community. So while finance is on my CV, I feel the reason I'm here, or my strength is actually being brown, being Pasifika in spaces where maybe we aren't as common as you'd think.

What can the finance sector can do to help all the rest of us be a bit more sustainable?

The finance sector is a key pillar to enable everything in the economy, and sustainable funding can enable and help us achieve the global emissions target of being of net zero by 2050.

What does being part of the RAP mean to you?

It’s been a really good opportunity from both a professional and personal point of view, just to grasp the concept of sustainability. I feel like it was a very foreign concept to me, but I feel like a lot of professional corporates are in the same boat and it's not part of the everyday talk that we talk.

I did feel a little insecure to begin because I didn't know a lot about it. But having more curiosity than nervousness got the best of me.  And so, I accepted the role and I’ve never looked back. Now I feel responsible for sharing that knowledge with all my colleagues, all my family, just anyone who I come into contact with.

So what do you talk to your family about, when you talk to them about sustainability?

I talk about the goals that the New Zealand Government has to achieve net zero carbon emission for all of New Zealand by 2050 and I feel like that could be socialised a whole lot more.

And they're like, whoa, we didn't even know that. We just thought that this was some sort of arbitrary concept that is thrown around all the corporates.

In August, alongside my fellow RAPP’ers, I had the opportunity to visit, Hon. Simon Watts. Following this visit I was invited to share my journey of being on the RAP and my visit to parliament with my BNZ Finance team - it was well received.  I'm hoping to share a lot more of the Aotearoa Circle’s newsletters and content as I continue my journey being on the RAP, and as I venture forward on my sustainability journey.

If you could change one thing about the world right now, what would it be.  Maybe thinking in terms of the UN SDGs to give us some context.

I actually researched the UN SDGs and the one that shouted out to me in terms of the concept is no hunger.  Even in a country like this, there are still so many kids going without lunches and without food during school or just in general.

There's a shortage of food, despite the age that we're in and despite the time and space, I feel like food shouldn't be an actual problem, but in in some environments in some spaces it is. So that's probably one thing I would love to solve for.

Let me ask a potentially pessimistic question now - is humanity going to get through this huge crisis, which is one of our own making - climate change plus the degradation of the natural world. Can we fix it or are we a bit stuffed?

My head is saying one thing in terms of I don't think we can, purely because of what the numbers are showing us and how intense the impacts are worldwide.

But at the same time my heart is saying, I do have hope and I do strive to believe that we, as human beings, should be able to overcome anything, and this includes climate change.

There’s a saying in Niuean that goes “Tao e umu haau ke moho” which translates to when preparing an umu (home cooked meal) make sure it is done properly otherwise the food will not be cooked.  I loosely translate that to mean if you’re about the change, get on and do, and do it with your best intentions. This will mean the food will be cooked and delicious to eat or, that our goals will be accomplished.

Don't just say it, do it.

Fakaue Lahi kua fakanogonogo mai

The above translates in Niuean to – “Thank you for listening”