What does October's energy policy announcement mean for the future of NZ's electricity market and the climate? Law professor Barry Barton steps Ross Inglis through a package big on fossil fuels and very quiet about renewables. 

Earlier this year New Zealand's first and largest big storage battery began selling into the grid; there are signs that it is already softening prices. So, are we on the cusp of a low-emissions electricity transformation? Climate and energy modeller Dr Jen Purdie tells Ross Inglis that we are...to a point.

Every year the fashion industry produces over 24 billion shoes made largely of synthetics, with little regard for the materials sourced, the wellbeing of the people involved or impact after disposal. Orba shoes are different. Designed in NZ, made from entirely natural materials every part of every shoe Orba makes for the next 100 years will be gone before any synthetic sneakers discarded yesterday.

Orba is also included in this year’s Next List - the definitive list of the most sustainable products and businesses as judged by the Sustainable Business Network.

Vincent was joined by Gillian Boucher, sustainability manager, and Scott Anderson operations manager.

https://orbashoes.eco/

Auckland builder Paul Webster-Young is turning a new home for his sister into a case study for construction that sends less waste to landfill and costs less over time. The key, he tells Ross Inglis, is careful selection of materials and a new kind of collaboration with architects.

New Zealand's houses have come a long way since the '70s but there's plenty we can do to make them more sustainable. Auckland architect Mike Hartley is designing for less building waste and that, he tells Ross Inglis, starts by talking with the builder. 

Ken Webster is one of the world’s leading thinkers in the circular economy. For eight years, he led innovation at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the world’s leading circular economy network. Visiting Professor, Cranfield University, UK; Fellow, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He is the author of The Circular Economy: A Wealth of Flows (2017) and co-author of The Wonderful Circles of Oz: A Circular Economy Story (2022), Sense and Sustainability (2008) and ABC&D Creating a Regenerative Circular Economy for All (2022). He also contributed to the Handbook of the Circular Economy (2023).

And he is a keynote speaker at the NextFest conference in November 18-21 in Auckland. If you’re seeking hopeful solutions for a sustainable economy then NextFest is the place to be - a conference for entrepreneurs, investors, venture capital, technologists and thinkers. In addition to Ken keynotes include George Monbiot and filmmaker Damon Gameau and host of great Kiwi pioneers from Halter, Lodestone Energy, Daisy Lab, Climate VC Fund and pitches from start-ups and activists - culminating in the Sustainable Business Awards.

Visit SBN.org.nz or NextFest

A chubby feline is the star of an awareness campaign for the B Corp certification that says your business is getting real about sustainability. B Lab's Australia and NZ CEO Andrew Davies tells Ross Inglis about fat cats and how B Corps are making progress even in difficult times.

Think Like a Forest is a beautiful short film about NZ’s ngahere or native forest and is now showing on TVNZ On Demand, PureAdvantage.org and soon Air NZ In Flight Entertainment. Produced by Pure Advantage as part of its Recloaking Papatuanuku programme, the film is fronted by Sam Gibson aka Sam the Trapman. Pure Advantage’s Simon Millar joined Vincent for a chat about the film, pines and thinking about forests.

https://pureadvantage.org/think-like-a-forest/

The annual Climate Change and Business Conference is the biggest corporate meet-up on the climate agenda, attracting delegates from industry, politics and NGOs as well as overseas high-noters. This year’s event featured Lord Adair Turner, of UK Energy Transmissions Commission, Wang Xiaolong, the China ambassador to NZ and Cynthia Houniuhi, who led an historic delegation of Pacific youth to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) this year.

Alec Tang of KPMG and Joanna Silver of Westpac were both at the conference and joined Vincent to discuss their reactions.

What would a journalist from outside New Zealand find if they ran the ruler over our current climate policies? Australian writer Royce Kurmelovs has done just that, and he tells Ross Inglis that the answer can be rendered in two words: quiet quitting.

Why is it so hard to invest in nature - not for extraction but for nature itself? We invest in human health. Why don’t we invest in nature health? Well, increasingly we are trying. Nature Based Solutions are embedded in our National Emissions Reduction Plan and in the Climate Adaption Plan - but adoption and action are slow. Just ask anyone trying raise money for conservation, predator control or green infrastructure. Investing in nature is not happening fast enough or at scale.

Robin Mitchell is the founder of advisory firm Nature Positive. He is an international biodiversity management expert who advises governments, corporates and finance industry on nature climate strategies.