Ethicality leads NZ industries
I’ve long thought New Zealand has a massive opportunity to develop its businesses and industries in alignment with its successful ‘‘clean and green’’ global brand.
While other nations struggle to repair damaged reputations in the oil industry and banking for example, we could lead the world in educating our enterprises and organisations - from public services to start-ups - to operate in the most ethical and sustainable way possible.
Big strides can be made by nurturing visionary leaders, taking notice of the latest developments and thought leadership in this area and promoting bold moves to make it happen by driving improvements. Well-considered certification, checks and measures play their part in progress.
This means more than just paying heed to the environmental impact of businesses, but as New Zealand is heavily invested in this area, it is a logical place to start.
Illegal forest management practices for example are a global problem. New Zealand’s Forest Certification Association said this week, that governments and markets around the world were increasingly requiring labelled proof of legality for harvested wood products.
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is the world’s largest forest eco-certification system, recognised for providing assurance of legality and sustainability and is increasingly required for access to some of NZ’s major markets.
PEFC certification only became available in New Zealand last year, so it was good to hear that in the last month, three forestry companies (RMS Forests Ltd., (the former Wellington Regional Council forests), Hancock Forest Management NZ Ltd., and Timberlands Ltd.) managed to achieve PEFC certification for over 400,000 hectares of forest - about 20 per cent of NZ’s plantation forest estate.
Not only is this good for the Kiwi forestry business, those companies can only be a beacon for others to follow.