This Climate Business Podcasts NZ / Vincent Heeringa

So businesses love parking and hate cycleways. Or do they? Bike Auckland chair Karen Hormann tells Ross Inglis about a new campaign that tackles a lopsided narrative about commerce and cycling.

We know that about a third of food is wasted.  If global food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind only China and the USA. No one believes it’s a good idea. So why does it keep happening? And who’s in charge of this madness? It’s turns out, it’s no one. Those numbers are mere guesses and gaps in the system remain unsolved. Someone needs to do something.
Kaitlin Dawson is making a start. Kaitlin is head of Foodwaste Champions 12.3 and is seeking a systemic solution.  Iain Lees-Galloway is interim General Manager of Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance which represents 35 community organisations, who are feeding 5500 Kiwis with rescued food everyday. They join me today on the show.

There’s a fast-growing thicket of regulations and trade agreements standing between corporate New Zealand and its overseas markets. This emerging landscape has been mapped out by law firm Chapman Tripp in Protecting New Zealand’s Competitive Advantage, a report for the Aotearoa Circle.  Co-authors Nicola Swan and Alana Lampitt told Ross Inglis what it all means for businesses big and small.

David Williams is a journalist with Newsroom. He recently interviewed Extinction Rebellion protesters, Nick Hanafin and Siana Fitzjohn who climbed aboard the oil rig COSL Prospector in the Cook Strait in 2020 and were subsequently prosecuted. The interview piqued my interest, as it got into the minds and hearts of two incredibly brave and yet, surprisingly ordinary people who were prepared to push the law and their own safety to the limit.
Now, as our government throws down the welcome mat to the oil and gas industry and walks back on climate change commitments, I want to know will we see more protests and indeed is civil disobedience an effective tool in the fight against the fossil fuel industry. 
Read David’s excellent story here https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/04/inside-the-minds-of-the-oil-rig-climbing-activists/

Is another plastic bottle the way to disrupt the plastic bottle business?
Jayden Klinac of Anew believes so. The Anew system builds on years of trying to find a sustainable, commercially viable plant-based, recyclable, compostable, cradle-to-cradle plastic packaging solution. Brave man. Vincent spoke to Jayden ahead of his talk at the Spark Future State conference.

Two years ago Unilever Australia-NZ became a B Corp. It was the first really large corporate, with household brands Surf and Persil, to join a scheme that’s been home to environmental hero brands such as EcoStore.  Why did Unilever join? What did they discover in the process? And what impact has a major corporate had on such a spirited brand as B Lab? Vincent was joined by Cam Heath, MD of Unilever NZ and Andrew Davies CEO of B Lab.