It’s a big job, but together we can help Aotearoa thrive.

Sustainability: it’s a big word and, for some, maybe a bit scary. But most of us acknowledge one of the greatest issues facing Aotearoa New Zealand is achieving and securing a sustainable future.

Sometimes we might feel it’s such a big problem that it’s best left to “the authorities”, “the experts” or someone else to sort out.

But those in the running for the Genesis 2025 New Zealand Sustainability Leader of the Year Te Toa Taiao o te Tau Award show sustainability can begin at home.

The Sustainability Spotlight episodes Championing Conservation and Protecting our Land introduced some of the award’s 10 semi-finalists. Here we profile three more, whose mahi you can learn about in the latest video. The winner will be announced at the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in March.

Riley Hathaway is an emerging leader in ocean conservation and youth engagement. As co-founder of Young Ocean Explorers, she has inspired a generation of young New Zealanders to care about marine life through educational content and hands-on conservation projects.

She started young – just 12 years old – when she and her underwater cameraman father, Steve, began the project in 2012. The pair have shared their message via TV, online productions and, since 2021, their 21-day challenge for secondary school students across the motu.

“Our vision is to create generational change by connecting hearts and minds with the importance of enjoying and caring for our oceans, and give young people the tools to make a better future,” says Riley.

It’s not just ocean life under threat. Dr Mike Joy’s research and advocacy have highlighted the need for urgent action to protect rivers and lakes from pollution and over-use. In his 2024 memoir The Fight for Freshwater, Joy emphasises that for civilisation to go on, we need to drastically reduce our consumption.

“Our only choice is whether we manage our way down to a much simpler life and much, much less consumption, or we have Armageddon and we end up there anyway. I personally think that I’d much rather manage our way down.”

Deborah Manning is also committed to a present and future of much less consumption. Founder of KiwiHarvest, she has been at the forefront of tackling food waste and food insecurity in Aotearoa.

A 2023 Rabobank-KiwiHarvest survey found NZ households throw away 12.2% of the food they buy. Each household trashes a staggering $1510 of food each year – which might be something to think about next time you write a supermarket list. At the same time, over 21% of Kiwi children live in households where food runs out sometimes or often.

Working with supermarkets, wholesalers, producers, cafes, restaurants and hotels, KiwiHarvest rescues about 200,000kg of good food those organisations are not able to sell – maybe they’ve over-ordered, packaging is damaged, orders were cancelled, or it’s near the Best Before date.

This results in much more than a social benefit. The country generates more than 103,000 tonnes of food waste every year; burying good food (and often its packaging) in landfill adds to greenhouse gas emissions and squanders resources used to produce and transport it.

The award finalists lead by example, but every Kiwi can contribute to a sustainable future. Simple actions like composting food scraps, reducing single-use plastics, and planting native trees can make a big difference when multiplied across communities.

While individuals do their bit to address sustainability at the grassroots level, larger organisations are also playing a part in securing New Zealand’s sustainable future.

For Genesis, sponsoring a sustainability award isn’t a “nice to do”. Under its Gen35 strategy, the company will use profits from its share in the Kupe gas field to support a $1.1 billion programme to build new renewable energy sources, investing in solar and wind generation and grid-scale battery storage.

“Electrifying the economy is the pathway to New Zealand achieving net-zero 2050,” CEO Malcolm Johns says. “About 40% of the energy we use today in our homes and businesses comes from electricity. That needs to increase to more than 70% by 2050.”

Kate van Praagh, GM Sustainability at Genesis, says the organisation has a major role to play in New Zealand’s transition to a net zero future.

“It’s our goal to shift 95% of our energy generation to renewable sources by 2035. That includes developments like Lauriston, a 63-megawatt solar farm near Christchurch, which has just started generating electricity,” she says.

“We’re also looking at establishing a sustainable supply chain of biomass to gradually replace coal at Huntly Power Station.”

Van Praagh says while Gen35’s major strategy is transitioning generation to renewable sources, “it’s also about encouraging our customers to electrify – for example, through offering EV drivers special charging rates to encourage take-up.”

Genesis believes every Kiwi family can contribute to New Zealand’s net zero mission through small, everyday changes. The award is one way of “celebrating all the amazing work going on which is really important for our country and also for the future of the planet,” van Praagh says.

Learn more about Genesis Sustainability Leader of the Year 2025 and the wider Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.