Introducing Toitū climate positive – our best in breed

By Becky Lloyd

This year continues to be a big one for climate action. The IPCC issued its latest stark report, which will be discussed at COP26 in Glasgow later this year. Meanwhile, our own Government will soon publish its draft plan to transition Aotearoa New Zealand to a low carbon economy.

We understand that Covid is dominating business priorities right now, as it needs to, but it is important to keep an eye on the future. We have the opportunity to take stock and build forward better, with climate action at the forefront of business strategy.

With this backdrop, there is building momentum behind the climate movement and public expectations for organisations to commit to real, sustainable action will only continue to grow.

Our purpose is to catalyse action and continue to drive our clients to be more ambitious. And as such I am excited to introduce our new flagship product Toitū climate positive certification.

This is our gold standard in environmental certification, pushing climate leaders beyond carbon neutrality to leave a positive impact on society and our natural world.

Toitū climate positive is challenging and transformational. It recognises and rewards ambition for those who commit to it. Progress is continual – there is no ‘done’. The programme is designed for organisations to always strive to do more.

A major point of difference with our other programmes is that Toitū climate positive doesn’t just require accurate measurement of your organisation’s or product’s emissions, it requires you to consider your value chain, and set science-aligned decarbonisation targets. In addition, Toitū climate positive certification requires offsets through carbon credits to a total of 125% of the applicant’s carbon footprint, plus a further impact contribution to wider environmental and social outcomes.

By this we mean supporting projects or causes that help wider society to decarbonise, adapt, and/or transition in the context of climate change. Qualifying initiatives are those that support future emissions reductions, avoidance or removals, such as pest eradication projects that help with afforestation rates, or perhaps wetland or marine restoration work.

Alternatively, you might want to support society with a ‘just transition’ through fair trade or living wage commitments to increase society’s ability to afford to take action to reduce emissions. Or perhaps you want to look at climate adaptation initiatives that offer protection against sea level rise, floods or drought.

For example Ecoware, one of our certification launch partners, is supporting the Government-led healthy school lunch initiative Ka Ora, Ka Ako. This programme not only gets nutritious food into our children, but utilises compostable packaging and educates our youth on how to manage food waste – saving thousands of tonnes of scraps from ending up in the landfill.

Whatever you choose, we will be on hand to make sure it meets our certification requirements, and you can be assured your bespoke path to science-led, meaningful climate action is set against the ultimate in international best practice.

We’re excited to see who is prepared to meet the climate positive challenge in the coming years. If you think it might be you – check out our programme here or come and talk to us. We’re ready for you.