Welcome to the website of the Te Tau Ihu Sustainability Forum, covering issues relevant to Tasman, Nelson, Marlborough and Kaikoura. Latest News
A new Government Electric Vehicle Initiative ...
The government has today announced an exciting new electric vehicle initiative.... Well it would be great if it had. Instead they announced a new initiative for electric pizza delivery robots to come to New Zealand (the first country in the world to try them!). So soon we will have little robots zooming up and down the pavements of a town near you delivering pizza. This is a joke right? And it's not even April 1st! But no, check out this report from Radio NZ. Instead of a partnership to install charging stations, introduce battery technology or fast track EVs into New Zealand, this government gives us pizza! There is something fitting in that as they are repeatedly telling us to go eat cake, well it's not cake but still I'd say our job here is done, let's all go to sleep now!
COP21 The Paris Agreement
Exciting news from Paris over the weekend with 200 countries agreeing to limit temperature increases resulting from the release of greenhouse gases to 1.5 degrees above pre industrial levels by 2100. This is a reduction from the 2 degree limit that came out of Copenhagen and if it can be attained is good news for the low lying countries of the world. But there is a long way to go to attain this, Naomi Klein (and others) are saying that it does not go far enough and our own government is saying that it does not need to change its policy's to be able to do its bit. Strange leadership indeed, making it somebody else's problem. Click here if you would like to download the actual agreement - and now the fun begins were we actually try and achieve it.
November 2015
Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement At one of our meeting in 2013 we beamed Jane Kelsey in from Auckland University to talk about the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) which has been in the news of late. Well given this previous interest in the TPPA you may be interested to know that at last the government has released the text of the agreement so we can now read for ourselves what has been agreed for us. If you are interested in reading more then please click here. Enjoy. 25 June 2015
Climate Change action Well in the last week the world of climate change has been heating up (please excuse the pun). First we had Pope Francis issuing a encyclical calling for action on climate change and a phrasing out of fossil fuel use. Click here to read more. Now, over night we have had a court in Holland ordering the government of the Netherlands to reduce that countries carbon emissions by 25% within five years in order to protect its citizens. Click here to read the report from the Guardian. Exciting stuff. But this morning, just as we are dusting off the frost, some Greenpeace protesters have climbed onto the roof of New Zealand's parliament with solar panels and a banner featuring John Key and decrying the government's climate change action. Click here to follow the action live via Radio New Zealand. I can only wonder what is going to happen next ..... 
22 June 2015 Nelson Enviroschools celebrates 10 years Enviroschools teachers and principals gathered to mark the achievement with Nelson mayor Rachel Reese, Nelson MP Nick Smith, and Heidi Mardon who is chief executive of the Hamilton-based Toimata Foundation which is the trust working with Enviroschools. Link to Nelson Mail article 
19 June 2015
How to be Captain Planet and how not to be Brittany Packer reflects on her climate change journey. Link to Nelson Mail article May 2015
Well Solar Impulse 2 departed from Nanjing at the weekend, bound for Hawaii in what would have been a record breaking 6 day journey, using no fossil fuels whatsoever. Unfortunately, due to bad weather in the Pacific that would have made the journey too dangerous, they have made an unscheduled landing in Japan (and suffering a small amount of damage to the plane in the process). However, they still managed to break records just getting to Japan with an overnight flight just using batteries. Meaning that Solar Impulse 2 can fly perpetually. Charging the batteries during the day and using them overnight. In a world where we are becoming constrained in our use of fossil fuels, this is an important achievement and opens up many possibilities! The plane and its crew are now resting up in Nagoya, Japan, looking for a gap in the weather so they may set some more records flying to Hawaii. Click here to find out more. The whole world is waiting with baited for the departure of Solar Impulse 2, but they are struggling to find a window for their departure across the Pacific. Keep an eye on their website for more information. And in the meantime if you can make it, come along to the consultation meeting tonight at the Rutherford Hotel. This is being run by the Ministry for the Environment and is to help them set New Zealand's post-2020 target for greenhouse gas emissions. Click here for more details. While we wait for the departure of Solar Impulse 2, lets consider what it is trying to do in its round the world flight. And that is demonstrate that a clean energy future is possible. Have a look at the campaign website they have developed and sign up to be part of the revolution. Meanwhile the UK paper the Guardian, has launched its own campaign to keep fossil fuels in the ground and is currently pressuring Bill Gates foundation and others to divest their stocks in fossil fuels. Click here to check out their progress. Some interesting news from the Tesla Energy Company in California with the development of a new battery storage system that is set to halve the cost of electricity for an American household. And all done using existing technology. John Mathews, of Australia's Macquarie University, discusses this new development and its implications for the Australian renewable industry. Click here to read more. Meanwhile in Nanjing China, we are awaiting the departure of Solar Impulse 2 on the next leg of its round the world flight, with departure now due for the 9th of May. Click here to follow its progress. April 2015 After three weeks in Chongquing, Solar Impulse has this morning taken off on the next leg of its round the world mission, to Nanjing. You can follow the flight by clicking here. The site has links to Solar Impulse TV (broadcasting all take offs and landings) and live graphics of the energy use, battery life and pilot activities. While you wait for the landing have a look at this article from Brian Fallows' at the NZ Herald, discussing climate change and how, with the fall of forests, New Zealand's emissions targets and reality are getting further part. Click here to read more. So you have installed brand new solar cells on you house but the darn things start getting dirty. What do you do, climb on the roof with a bucket and squeegee? Well maybe, but the Israeli's have come up with a better idea. A robot. Not quite Star Trek but a robotic trolley called Ecoppia which spends its days moving up and down the panels removing dirt and other particles, without using a drop of water. Click here for more details. Oh and in case you are wondering, Solar Impulse has reached Chongqing in China, its next flight is for Nanjing before it flies across the Pacific to Hawaii. Click here for more deta March 2015
A lot of the technology behind Solar Impulse was developed in Switzerland. Another sustainable idea to have emerged from this landlocked country is clothes that decompose readily in a compost bin! This product is called F-ABRIC and was made by Swiss company Freitag. Read this Guardian article to find out more and click here to look at the F-ABRIC site. Oh if you are interested, Solar Impulse 2 is part way between Mandalay and Chongqing. Click here to follow there journey. A complete change of subject from solar power today to highlight the release of the Draft Long Term Plans by two of the four Te Tau Ihu councils. Nelson City and Tasman District Councils want to hear your views and for us to make submissions to their plan, so please have a look at them by click here for Nelson City Council and here for Tasman District Council. Marlborough District Council meanwhile is releasing their consultation document on the 2nd of April, click here for more details while Kaikoura District Council has yet to set a date for its release. There's a bit of a hiatus in Myanmar as Solar Impulse waits for a clear day to take off on. So far it looks like being Sunday, get the latest by clicking here. Meanwhile in Singapore, the civil defence authorities are proposing a change to the fire regulations that solar installers says will significantly handicap the solar industry in Singapore, an industry that has just taken off. Click here to see what's happening. Well things have been quiet on the Solar Impulse front since their landing in Myanmar last week (or maybe its because of the cricket reaching its climax). So while we wait for their next take off for China why not click here to read the notes from the Sustainability Forum's last meeting. Or if your curiosity regarding Solar Impulse continues unabated (and so it should) click here to look at this wee video explaining everything you need to know about their adventure. Another day another country! Solar Impulse has now landed in Myanmar where it was met by dancing elephants - click here to see the landing. Meanwhile reporting of Solar Impulse's flight is now making headlines in unlikely places such as the International Business Times. In this article they discuss how solar PV cells have decreased in price by 80% since 2008. Click here to read more. Solar Impulse has now landed in Varanasi, a pit stop on its journey to Mandalay in Myanmar. You can have a look at the landing in Varanasi by clicking here. While you wait for the take off to Mandalay have a look at this video on the invasion of the coffee-pod monsters. According to this article in eco-business, enough coffee-pods were consumed last year to wrap around the equator 10.5 times. Which has led to a campaign to "kill the K-cup". Solar Impulse is in the preparation stages for take off on the next leg of there round the world trip, this time flying to Varanasi. Click here to follow there journey live. Meanwhile in light of the interest in solar power, here are two articles from GreenBiz, click here to see this one on what is driving the 30% increase in the installation of photovoltaic arrays and click here to understand the issues facing Hawaii's utility companies as more and more houses install PV arrays on the islands. It's a rest day in Ahmedabad so while we wait for more news on Solar Impulse 2, have a look at one of the most passionate and fast talking people around, Stephen Ritz. A teacher in South Bronx who is teaching his children to grow vegetables to save the Bronx and the world! Well worth watching, click here and enjoy. Solar Impulse2 has now reached Ahmedabad in India after successfully completing the second leg of its round the world solar powered flight. It will now rest over for a few days of promotional activities before it flies on to Varanasi. You can read more here or have a look at their Youtube videos here Exciting news from Abu Dhabi, where the first solar-powered airplane has taken off on stage one of its round the world flight solar powered flight (and yes they will be flying night as well as day!). The Solar Impulse is now in Muscat before it departs for Ahmedabad tomorrow. Click here to follow the progress of their flight. The UK paper The Guardian is taking a stand against climate change with a campaign called "keep it in the ground". This strong stance is due to a desire by the editorial staff to help to better inform the public of the issue and the need to keep as much of the yet to be burnt fossil fuels in the ground as possible. Click here to find out more and sign up for updates. The Taiwanese Stock Exchange is set to become the first market in the Asia-Pacific region to make Corporate Social Responsibility reporting mandatory, using the Global Reporting Initiatives G4 standard. While it doesn't include all companies it does include all food processing, financial and chemical sectors businesses and companies with 50% of revenue generated from food and beverage businesses. Click here to read more. Ever fancied showering like an astronaut but didn't want to go into space to do it? Well a Swedish company, Orbital Systems, has developed a shower inspired by the way astronauts shower in space, which recycles water and can cut water use by up to 90%. Click here to find out more. A subject dear to the hearts of a lot of Nelson residents, craft beers, with the UK's The Guardian reporting that Europe's growing craft beer movement is cutting down on beer miles, providing jobs and creating demand for local ingredients. Click here to read more. February 2015
Managers often ask: Should I act for short-term results, or think long-term? Choosing the right mix of short- and long-term action maximizes firm value. But even though short- and long-term actions are necessary, most firms emphasize the short term. A new guide from The Network for Business Sustainability will help you find the right combination of actions and create value in the short term and long term, for your company and society. Click here to read more. As climate change starts to have an impact, new careers in resilience are starting to emerge in companies like Nike and Starbucks. Click here to read more 30 years since Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland coined the phrase "Sustainable Development" how does she see the movement now? Click here to find out Derek Handley is entreprenaur-in-reisdence at the B-Team and is aiming to transform business! Click here to read more Cut carbon and live well? Have a look at this new calculator that allows individuals and organisations to find out the impact of their lifestyle on the climate and what they can do to make a difference and keep global temperatures at reasonable levels Read More Trade agreement might be a no-go in New Zealand Read More November 2014
EU set to approve historic deal to cut plastic bag use Read More Yealands named World Champion at the International Green Apple Environment Awards Read More Power companies slash 'buy-back' rates for solar power Read More Circular Economy: Inspiring Green Commitments to Business According to a report by the World Economic Forum, 20th century industrialism has led to the prevalent use of a one-way or linear model of production and consumption. Organizations that adapt this linear model provide products manufactured from raw materials which are then sold, used, and discarded or incinerated as waste. Read More |
Date of Next Meeting
Date: TBC Time: Venue: TBC TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: Food security and GMO and Nelson 2060 
The Natural Step is an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to education, advisory work and research into sustainable development that was instrumental in developing Nelson 2060. Click here to have a look at its new website.
Sustainable Aotearoa NZ WebsiteSustainable Aotearoa NZ (SANZ) is a non-governmental organisation committed to educating society on the new ways of living we need to adopt in the face of climate change, resource depletion, rising oil costs, world over-population and permanent global recession. Click here to read their vision of what a sustainable New Zealand will look like.
Nature is speaking
Conservation international has teamed up with eight well known actors to provide a voice for nature. With stories from flowers to redwood forests and oceans to rainforests. Have a look at these beautiful films at natureisspeaking.org
PCE Report 2014 - Sea Level rise
27 Nov 2014
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, has warned that flooding and erosion from rising sea levels will have a large impact on many New Zealanders in their lifetimes. Read More |
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