Key trading partners beating NZ efforts in sustainability reporting Pacific communities faced with increasing crises
NEW Zealand’s rate of progress in sustainability reporting is “underwhelming”, according to a global report by KPMG, and is costing the country in lost opportunities.
The business consultancy ranks New Zealand 38 out of 58 countries in its latest Survey of Sustainability Reporting by the top 100 companies in the country.
While there had been some improvement in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, the progress was comparatively less than that of key trading partners who dominated the top half of the list of reporting countries.
KPMG NZ partner Ian Proudfoot said New Zealand’s performance had slipped back since 2017, when its improvement was a standout.
“The increase since our last survey in 2020 is positive, but given the scale of issues we face, and the impacts that corporate organisations have on people and the planet, our rate of progress is underwhelming.”
However, New Zealand was missing out on the opportunities offered by improved reporting, he said.
“We are letting the significant opportunities that we could create from delivering world-class ESG reporting pass us by,” he said.
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AN urgent review of risk reduction strategies in the face of increasing disaster impacts on agricultural value chains in the region saw representatives from Government, the private sector, as well as development partners, from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu meet last week.
The Regional Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for Sustainable Agricultural Export Value Chains was funded by the European Union through the Safe Agricultural Trade Facilitation through Economic Integration (SAFE PACIFIC) Project in the Pacific Community (SPC).
SPC’s Land Resources Division Markets for Livelihoods Programme manager Dr Viliami Kami said the workshop came at a crucial time as SPC country members were faced with increasing crises such as natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. In the region the merging of broadening crises, the intersection of food systems and climate change is critical.
“SPC remains committed to working with our member countries in strengthening resilient, sustainable agricultural value chains, one of the backbones of Pacific Livelihoods,” Dr Kami added.
EU Programme manager, Economic Cooperation and Agriculture, Alejandro Matos-Lopez said “Natural disasters are not the only risk for the enterprises. Access to finance, financial crises, and logistics issues such as biosecurity, transportation and disruptions of supply chains also affect normal production and productivity. In addition, unexpected international crises like the COVID-19 or Ukraine war exacerbate vulnerabilities along our agricultural value chains and roll back progress on ongoing work.”
Workshop participants collaborated to identify Pacific agriculture sector DRR knowledge gaps, discuss solutions and strategies to reduce agricultural value chain risks and map a way forward for regional approaches to improve resilience.