Sustainability

An interesting article in the Herald:

But however highly consumers may rate green issues, there is no doubt National’s return to power has seen an easing in the pressure on business to make sustainability a high priority. The change is evident in organisations such as the Electricity Commission and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. Says one Wellington insider: “They’ve completely flipped their positioning – now it’s all about being the choice of the consumer. Before it was regulatory. Now it is much more about encouraging manufacturers to use more energy-efficient light bulbs, not compelling them to.”

And that is a good thing. And I say that as someone who has been using those lightbulbs before Labour trie to force us to.

The game has changed for New Zealand businesses, says Brown. There is a new Government which is none too keen on the word “sustainability” and there is a recession, so money is tight. “But it’s a myth that to be sustainable there has to be a cost to the bottom line. Sustainability helps business efficiency.” Many New Zealand businesses, she maintains, are still “blissfully unaware”.

It is unfortunate that some businesses do see sustainability as costing more, because in many circumstances it doesn’t.