Sustainability and business opportunities, careers and workplaces

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Sustainability and business opportunities,
careers and workplaces
Peter Neilson, Chief Executive New Zealand
Business Council for Sustainable
Development Aotearoa Careers and Transition
Education Conference New Plymouth 19 November
2008
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In this presentation

• The Business Council who are we?
• What our members are doing and why?
• What is sustainability?
• What does the public consider to be the role of
  business?
• What is driving the risk and opportunity for
  business and training?
• What are the job and training opportunities from
  sustainability?

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Who we are
74 members 59b annual sales 43 GDP
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Business Council members

• People employed
• 88,000 (50 up on 2007)
• Potential audience reach for Business Council
  messages 109 million people p.a.

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What we believe

• The Business Council believes
• Sustainable businesses are profitable
• Contribute to social progress and ecological
  balance, and
• Protect New Zealands quality of life

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What we do

• To advance sustainable development, the Business
  Council
• Commissions major research projects(RMA, Climate
  Change, Water Allocation, Sustainable Buildings)
• Advances practical policy options to decision
  makers(RMA process changes, incentives for low
  emission / fuel efficient vehicles, sustainable
  procurement by Government agencies, emissions and
  waste pricing)
• Supports members and others with sustainable
  practice how to guides and courses (Managing an
  ageing workforce, reducing waste, measuring your
  carbon footprint, work / lifestyle balance)

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Why are members in this space?

• Members were asked to list outcomes as a result
  of their business sustainable development
  practices or initiatives in the past 12 months
• Opportunity Identified new business
  opportunities (82)
• Brand Enhanced brand value (73)
• Staff Attracting and keeping staff (64)
• Savings Cutting costs (47)
• - Business Council Member survey 2008

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What is sustainability?
Sustainable development is development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs UN Brundtland Commission
1987 Doing what you would do if you knew you
were going to live forever Anonymous
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Take 100 New Zealanders

• 5 think its only about the economy
• 5 say its only about the environment
• 20 say that life is too hard for me to think
  about anything other than today
• 70 say I want a better standard of living and to
  maintain my quality of life we should make
  decisions on whats best long term
• - UMR research for the Business Council

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How do you measure sustainability?
For business Triple bottom line
reporting PROFIT Traditional metrics
apply PLANET How do we manage our impact on
the environment PEOPLE How do we look after
our staff and the community we operate in?
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New Zealanders views on the role of business
ShapeNZ survey completed by 6,275 New Zealanders
between February 11 and September 22, 2008.
Weighted to represent the national population,
the maximum margin of error on the
national sample is / - 1.2.
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Employee treatment. Product stewardship
65 Agree v 26 Disagree
81 Agree v 14 Disagree
ShapeNZ 15 June 14 July 2007. 1444 respondents
weighted by age, gender, personal income,
employment, party vote 2005. Margin of error 2.6
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New Zealanders views on the role of business
71 Agree v 17 Disagree
83 Agree v 12 Disagree
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Where the market has moved
24 disagree
68 agree
ShapeNZ survey covering 5988 respondents between
13 and February May 26, 2008. The survey is
weighted against 2006 census data by age, gender,
personal income, ethnicity, employment status,
and party vote 2005. The maximum margin of error
on the full sample is 1.3
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Whats driving the risk and opportunity?

• Climate change affecting trade USA, Japan,
  Europe, Australia will have ETS (The Chinese
  Central Bank is investigating an ETS for China)
• Customer expectations lifecycle carbon
  labelling (EU, then other markets. The wise will
  lead now, not delay). 5 b in exports to EU. What
  of NZ-supplied ingredients in exports from third
  countries to the EU?
• Staff expectations
• A general belief it is the right thing to do

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The pressure

• Government regulation Emissions trading bill,
  Waste bill, Taupo and Rotorua Lakes clean up. EU
  Ag. emissions in EU ETS?
• UK Cabinet Office Review July 9, 2008
  Agriculture accounts for as much as 12 per cent
  of all greenhouse gas emissions, and gases from
  farms like methane and nitrous oxide could be
  brought into EU emissions trading systems. Expect
  pricing in the next decade on air pollution (and
  transfer of pollution rights within air sheds)
• Government and corporate procurement Green star
  ratings for buildings, national standards, 6
  billion pa 34 core agencies (local government
  procurement to come as cities, like Wellington.
  Aim for carbon neutrality) Corporates greening
  supply chains

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Top 10 intended emission-lowering activities in
the next year

• Recycle household waste 66.
• Use energy efficient light bulbs 57
• Buy energy efficient appliances 52
• Conserve water 50
• Walk (rather than use car) 48

6. Plant trees to offset emissions 35 7. Use
pubic transport 32 8. Buy certified
eco-products 31 9. Improve insulation work/ home
27 10. Use alternative every day travel options
rather than a vehicle 25
Least popular of 18 options Buy carbon offsets 3
Actions will take in the next year to manage own
emissions ShapeNZ September 10 26, 2008.
Respondents 4076. Maximum margin of error on
national sample /- 1.5
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How these values translate to market opportunities
Second study February 2007
Solution Seeker Market grows 6 since 2005 32
of population Climate change is currently the
biggest driver in society with 83 of New
Zealanders aware of the problems the world
faces Want business and government to take
action, but loosing faith in their ability to
respond Want authentic solutions they can buy
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Those are the pressures

• Climate change
• Pricing externalities (emissions, waste, water
  waste, air pollution)
• Sustainable procurement
• Consumer-driven demand, through the supply chain.

The opportunities and new jobs
Billions to be made, thousands to be employed
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Where the green jobs will come from

• 14.3 million Green industry US workers to benefit
  from move to green economy
• 12 states
• Six sectors
• -Political Economy Research Institute,
  University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 

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The opportunities and new jobs

• The CSIRO is predicting that the Australian
  Government's planned emissions trading scheme
  will lead to a new "green collar" workforce
• Addressing climate change will not reduce the
  total number of jobs - employment is projected to
  grow from 2.6 to 3.3 million over the next two
  decades, but
• More than three million workers will need to be
  re-skilled to adapt to this green economy

The author of the report and CSIRO economist,
Steve Hatfield Dodds, says the carbon market will
affect jobs across all industries.
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New Zealands sustainable business opportunity
Major opportunities in the new green
economic revolution - 12.3 billion in new
investment in the next 10 years
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The opportunity12 billion
2008 2018 12.358 billion investment
underpinned or triggered by ETS 913 million pa
of this is immediate 9,600 new direct and
indirect jobs 5.5 billion a year in new wages
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The opportunity

• Nitrogen inhibitors major immediate gains
• Methane emissions - 181 million pa emission cut
• Forestry - 460 million over 10 years
• Permanent forestry sinks - 92 million pa
• Bio energy (heat and power from woody forest
  residues) - 936 million over six years
  emission cuts worth 16million a year

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The opportunity

• Bio char (boosting carbon storage in soils by 50
  to 80 - not yet quantified)
• Transport bio fuels - 72 million new investment,
  820 new jobs, emission savings of 10 million
  pa

Geothermal power - 3.5 billion, 800 new jobs,
3.2 million tonnes of emission cuts worth 83m
pa Ocean energy - 3.3 billion Wind energy -
3.17 billion
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The opportunity

• Energy efficiency - home and building products,
  solar, lighting, retrofits, wood burners and
  pallets, smart logic thermostats for water
  heaters, energy management devices, new
  low-energy building construction. Not
  quantified, but could be billions
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects
  (investing in emission lowering projects in
  developing countries)
• Joint Implementation Mechanism (JR) large
  opportunities to sell low-carbon technology to
  developed countries
• ETS trading services emissions trading,
  consultancy

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So what does all this mean for careers, skills
and training?

• Some things dont change that much making a
  double glazed window not that different from
  single pane but the measurements need to be more
  precise. Selling petrol for a hybrid car is not
  different from a 4 x 4
• But some changes will be much greater We will
  need to develop new business models. (The green
  Meridian Building, wellington, required a 10 year
  lease to achieve pay back

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What it means for careers, skills and training

• We will need to develop new technologies
• Clean Coal Sequestration for our lignite coals
• Tools for remote monitoring of emissions

New practices Carbon labelling, measuring
emissions NZ has only 10 experts in complete
product and service lifecycle analysis
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What it means for careers, skills and training

• A million homes are cold and inefficient We
  need to close the thermal envelope
• 71 no insulation in walls
• 64 no insulation under floor
• 29 ceilings not fully insulated
• 45 are mouldy
• Occupants in 1 out of every 4 homes say building
  causing illness.
• New skills are needed to rate homes performance,
  install solutions not just products

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New careers, skills and training

• Homes and SME dominance We will need
  architects, developers, builders, electricians,
  plumbers, painters and installers who understand
  the desire for better performing homes and can
  provide pragmatic solutions

Breakthrough products and technologies
Manipulating microbes in a cows rumen to reduce
methane production - Low cost batteries to store
wind and ocean power for use later - Low-cost
photo voltaic cells so home can be net producers
of electricity
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What we need skills as well as passion

• Passion to make the world a sustainable place is
  admirable. We need the skills as well as caring
  
• Make sure New Zealanders and recent migrants
  learn or develop relevant skills
• Make sure young men and women take english, math
  and science to the highest level they can because
  they are likely to be the foundation for helping
  others become more sustainable
• Think about going into business offers the
  opportunity to take ideas to scale and make a
  difference
• Remember you will need to persuade others to do
  things they may not find easy empathy and
  advocacy skills are required

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Skills passion
The challenge is to build the skills to make the
sustainable possible. I think we can.
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The opportunity is to profit, protect the
environment and people and lift the quality of
life
Further information
www.nzbcsd.org.nz www.shapenz.org.nz peter.neils
on_at_nzbcsd.org.nz