Nicola Young: Business lead needed on climate action

BLUE SKY THINKING: Air New Zealand's chief executive Christopher Luxton.

WHAT does business think of the cost of "doing the right thing" when preparing for climate change and addressing carbon emissions?

Well, if you're Air New Zealand, they say, "bring it on!"

This week I attended a sustainability breakfast hosted by Air NZ in Wellington. It was refreshing. From the straight-up descriptions of their contribution to carbon emissions to the challenges of moving beyond fuel efficiency to the need for aviation to be part of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), it was inspiring to see true leadership in action.

Six months ago, Air NZ launched an ambitious sustainability strategy. Their chief executive Christopher Luxton clearly led the programme from the front - his careful language about high-quality carbon offsets demonstrated he was someone paying attention to the detail, as the devil truly lives in the detail when it comes to climate change.

And when he said "sustainability is good for business", he backed it up with statistics about their success as a company.

They have set up an expert panel including Sir Jonathan Porritt from Forum for the Future.

Porritt described their role as "critical friend" - keeping Air NZ honest and pushing them hard.

Porritt said it was time to stop talking about climate change as if it was something you chose to believe in or not - instead it was simply time to "acquaint yourself with the science".

He emphasised that disruption from climate change was already happening - the only option was how we responded. We either changed our approach to the fundamentals of modern life - our power, infrastructure and land use - or we faced disruption we hadn't planned for.

Porritt said that we were "sliding slowly but inextricably into a diminished future we wouldn't wish on our worst enemy". To change this future, we needed a few human ingredients: smart, scientifically literate politicians who could find innovative opportunities in the changes needed; engaged citizens and responsible consumers; and a growth in the number of businesses operating with a sense of purpose and integrity.

Luxton said it was critical that Air NZ's mission was more than making money and getting people from A to B. It was about "supercharging" New Zealand economically, environmentally and socially. Talk even turned to the vulnerability around our tourism market's 100% Pure brand, perhaps not surprising given the connections between our clean, green image and Air NZ marketing.

An example of this was raised by two Europeans living in New Zealand I've met recently, who were deeply disappointed by the lack of recycling in our public places, and in hotels and pubs. It was frustrating for them to be in such a beautiful country and to see such little care taken with what ends up in landfills.

Setting up widespread, co-ordinated separation of glass, paper and plastics going to a useful end market, as well as redesigning to reduce packaging, has its share of challenges but it's worth doing anyway. We need a paradigm shift from the concept of "throwing away" - where is "away"?

In our country with low population and plenty of land, we have stuck our heads in the sand about confronting waste. It will take collaboration and new ways of working, but waiting for a crisis to hit is not the answer. As Luxton said when talking about their submission to include all sectors including aviation in the ETS, plus transitioning to 100 per cent carbon offsets, "frankly, it's just the right thing to do".

Nicola Young has worked in the government and private sectors in Australia and NZ, and now works from home in Taranaki for a national charitable foundation.