Encouraging Fiordland firms to measure their carbon
Kate Norris works in the great outdoors of Fiordland and wants its amazing environment to be there for her children in years to come.
As the co-owner of outdoor tourism business Fiordland Trips and Tramps, it ‘‘makes sense’’ for Norris to be concerned about carbon emissions.
‘‘We work in this amazing environment, and I have four children that I want to leave something a lot better to. They’ll be paying for our actions. Which they are, there’s no denying climate change is already affecting our area,’’ she says, alluding to the flood that hit parts of Fiordland in early 2020 when a state of emergency was declared.
At the time, Milford Sound received 566mm of rain in a single day, stranding 380 people as rivers rose. It was more rainfall than the normal amount for the entire month of February, which is 455mm.
Her husband and co-owner, Steve, deals with pest control and conservation, while her interests concern carbon – measuring how much the business emits, investigating strategies to mitigate it, and sharing with other businesses how they can do the same.
Norris has been publishing the business’ emissions each year on its website, a process which is partly for transparency but mostly to initiate conversations with fellow tourism operators.
When she first started measuring about four years ago it was ‘‘pretty overwhelming’’, so being able to share examples with other businesses has made them more open to the process, she says.
The next goal is a community planting scheme along Southland’s vast network of waterways, which will offset emissions and enhance the natural environment.
Ideally, Norris would like her business to become carbon-neutral through transitioning their vehicle fleet to hydrogen or electric vehicles, as fuel is their largest source of emissions.
But as a small tourism business still grappling with the flow-on effects from Covid-19 that process won’t be cheap nor easy, which is why Norris is supportive of Government initiatives giving priority to lower emission vehicles.
‘‘It’s important to us that they are involved because as a small business we can’t front it on our own,’’ she says.