By Adele Rose – 3R Group Chief Executive

When it comes to action on human-accelerated climate change in New Zealand we often look to conversations held in the main centres like Auckland and Wellington, or action from central Government to lead the way.

But Hawke’s Bay is showing regional Aotearoa is just as capable of taking the lead. Some of the region’s five councils have been working on a response plan to climate change since 2014, and now the business community, alongside the councils, is coming together to tackle the issue through the Climate Action HB initiative.

Achieving real and meaningful action on accelerated climate change has, and always will, rely on partnerships. Partnerships between people, businesses, councils and governments.

In Hawke’s Bay you need look little further than the coastal erosion to see the very real effects of human accelerated climate change on the region.

The economy of the Bay is heavily reliant on tourism and the primary industries, and while sea level rise is most often cited when talking about climate change, factors like warmer winters, fewer frosts and unseasonable wet and dry periods will impact the primary sector particularly, and the region overall.

These impacts have obvious consequences for everyone – from residents living next to the sea, to orchards in the plains and farms in the hill country. Other impacts, such as food security, go beyond the region itself.

The critical need to address these impacts was seen in the attendance of nearly 120 representatives from Hawke’s Bay businesses and councils at the inaugural event for Climate Action HB, an initiative led by 3R Group with support from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.

Attendees at the Business CoLab event on November 25 in Napier included major regional stakeholders such as Napier Port, Hawke’s Bay Airport, and Pan Pac Forest Products, as well as businesses from the primary industry, engineering, retail and hospitality sectors, among others.

The Business CoLab event, which was also supported by Napier City, Hastings, Central Hawke’s Bay and Wairoa district councils, kicked off an ongoing drive to bring businesses and communities together to connect and focus on meeting the challenges and opportunities of climate change.

The event showed there is obviously a desire by business to understand more about where to start to reduce carbon impacts, to collaborate, and to lead.

However, the last thing we want is for this to simply be a talk-fest, which is why in the New Year we’ll begin a series of targeted workshops to offer practical advice, solutions and support for businesses to act on their impact on climate change.

The Business CoLab was a call to action and the start of ongoing partnerships that will bring meaningful change. Now, more than ever, businesses need to factor climate change into decision making.

From the questions and conversations at the event it was clear the first workshop needs to tackle how businesses can measure and monitor carbon emissions.

It’s the most basic element in our fight to mitigate human-accelerated climate change – the essential starting point. Afterall, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Only once an organisation has established a baseline can it begin to mitigate, minimise and offset its emissions. 3R has been on this journey since 2014 and is a Toitū carbonzero^CertTM certified organisation.

We have personally experienced the benefits of improved efficiency, risk avoidance and cost savings.

We are also the only Hawke’s Bay-based signatory to the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) and our work to help other businesses get started on their sustainability journey is part of our commitment to this.

As I mentioned, partnerships are key to success. When it comes to meaningful action on climate change no man, or business, is an island. We must act together.

If you would like to know more about Climate Action HB, visit the webpage: https://3r.co.nz/what-we-do/climate-action-hb/