We will achieve sustainable goals by working together - not alone
Fraser Whineray
As a nation we love to celebrate our individualism and DIY culture. When it comes to the big issues of looking after our natural and social resources, however, DIY doesn’t cut it. We actually need more collaboration between civil society, business and government.
It’s been a trait of ours; inventing alone in our metaphorical garages, working on an idea forever and not involving anyone else in the process. Then we have a big ‘ta da’ moment and we’re grossly disappointed by the reception to our idea because we never actually road-tested it on anyone.
I recall the moment Hinewehi Mohi sang the national anthem only in Maori at an All Blacks test match at Twickenham. She absolutely smashed it out of the park which was fantastic. That precipitated a huge subsequent change.
But it’s extremely rare to find yourself in a position of such leverage and have the courage to be that change agent.
You usually need very strong collaborative forces to effect change: one, to come up with the ideas; two, to have buy-in to those ideas; and then three, to use that collaborative leverage to create change not just within our organisations but also within policy settings.
Collaboration is what The Aotearoa Circle is structured around so that we can achieve the changes needed. The purpose of The Aotearoa Circle, its kaupapa, is to prevent the decline and restore natural capital within New Zealand. This can be considered across a range of different though interlinked areas of the environment within which we live, and which are fundamental to supporting the economy and society which we enjoy.
The biggest ingredient for collaboration is trust. Immediately behind that, there needs to be a common goal. In all organisations, the common goal should not be defined by the legal boundary of the entity as no entity exists in isolation. We have customers, which is in one sense brand capital. We have our people and ourselves which are human capital. We have investors and lenders providing financial capital. And there is the environment/natural capital. Each of these capitals are core to delivery of the common goal and indeed the sustainability of any organisation, including the very large organisation of the country itself.
Sustainability isn’t just about the environment. It’s about all the ingredients which are necessary to keep the organisation doing good work. All these capitals have to be there and thriving in 50+ years’ time to have a sustainable organisation. The trust in each of those ‘capital’ relationships is ultimately what lubricates the two-way flow, the ideas, the activities and sustainable value.
When focusing on natural capital, it is important to consider areas beyond climate change. Climate change is very important, though ultimately the global outcome for the “commons” of our atmosphere is going to be determined most strongly by the actions or inactions of other much larger countries. That’s not an excuse to say don’t do anything. It’s essential that we do take action to help a critical mass of countries in the global order adopt suitable approaches to mitigation. Our action is also essential to our terms of trade with other countries where ‘carbon’ could easily expand as a non-tariff barrier, thereby reducing the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.
Land, soil, water and biodiversity – are absolutely ours to take full responsibility for. They are not globally shared commons. They are critical for food production, tourism and wellbeing. This is why The Aotearoa Circle has collaborative forums working in each of these areas.
The largest natural capital opportunity Mercury has been working on for several decades, alongside many outstanding companies in the sector, has been in the climate and carbon reduction space.
When it comes to our country’s performance on climate change we need to ensure that it doesn’t miss a trick capitalising on its competitive advantage with renewable energy. It is not acknowledged widely enough that the greatest decarbonisation outcome for New Zealand this century has come from geothermal and wind investment displacing fossil fuel production of electricity. The national carbon emissions reduction from these renewable electricity investments is equivalent to removing the emissions of the entire aviation sector, whose emissions continue to increase.
New Zealand has achieved the very strong position where we can wave goodbye to renewable electricity targets (where most other countries are just beginning) and move on to the bigger goal of renewable energy targets. Electricity accounts for only half our energy system. The electricity part is world leading. Reducing the high-carbon, imported and higher cost non-electricity energy is New Zealand’s opportunity.
Ultimately we should be aiming for a position of total energy sovereignty. We have our own water, we have our own food and we have our own electricity. But we don’t have our own energy because we’re still importing it.
If we can achieve national energy sovereignty from locally produced renewable energy that would be amazing for New Zealand. It would be amazing for structural costs across the economy as electricity is many times cheaper than liquid fuels. It would be amazing for the environment and also mean that we’re not beholden to anyone else to deliver us energy.
In order that we make the most of the opportunities and effectively mitigate risks over the long-term we need to have clear definitions about what we’re trying to achieve. We need to ensure that the scarce resources we have – time, people and money – are collaboratively put into activities that will make the most difference. My number one focus in The Aotearoa Circle is to make sure that we avoid things that feel-good but won’t make a meaningful difference. There are a lot of those feel-good initiatives creeping into the sustainability space. Unfortunately, those initiatives are the fastest way to a hot and expensive planet, no matter how well intentioned.
Fraser Whineray is Chief Executive of Mercury NZ Limited
February 10, 2020