Last Tuesday (05/November), I had the opportunity to attend the Sustainability Leaders Summit in Auckland for its second edition - and while the task ahead can appear daunting to sustainability professionals, the overall tone and vibe were hopeful as uplifting stories were shared.
The themes were driven by climate and social sustainability mostly, with an emphasis on value chain emission reporting (for Scope 3) and strategies to decarbonise hard to abate sectors.
Nature and biodiversity did not have much presence in the sessions.
It is difficult to select panels or sessions which stood out, as all speakers were knowledgeable and passionate; however, I would note 3 which made me think, long after the day was done:
- how KiwiHarvest set up to reduce food waste and food insecurity, by gathering unsold products and distributing them to families in need; leading to up to 440,000 meals a month delivered. While this note here may not do them justice, I would encourage to visit their website: www.kiwiharvest.org.nz
- Aviation is a hard to abate sector - however tackling emissions involve a combination of SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), hybrid (with electricity) and hydrogen, where all those technologies have their advantages and limitations.
- During one of the panels (on momentum), there was a discussion on risks and opportunities - one of the panelists put things in perspective: there will be several recessions between now and 2050.
Embracing potential opportunities will be key in ensuring long term survivability, more so than just focusing on risk.
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