Celebrating World Environment Day
We’ve seen the growing effects of climate change first hand this year, and our people have been on the frontline of the response to storms, floods, tornados, and wildfires across the motu (country).
World Environment Day is this Monday 5 June, and at Fire and Emergency we are reflecting on the ongoing effects of climate change, and the steps that we are taking to reduce our impact on the natural world.
We know that he taonga te taiao (the environment is a treasure) and that preserving it is a team effort.
We are focussed on reducing our environmental impact for the benefit of future generations - check out the work of our Environmental Sustainability Team and our Climate Response Strategy(external link)
It’s increasingly important that we are resilient to keep ourselves safe from extreme weather events. Learn more about how you can be prepared and protect your whānau (family) from wildfires at checkitsalright.nz(external link).
What we’re doing
We’re part of the Carbon Neutral Government Programme – which requires us to reduce our emissions and report on them.
- We’ve reduced emissions by 19.5% (since reporting began in 2018) - this means we are on track to meet our target of 21% reduction by 2025. A Toitū Envirocare audit found our overall emissions are at their lowest point since reporting began in 2018
- We’ve built on the emissions reductions we had during COVID and have reduced our travel and fleet emissions.
- We continue to look at how we can do more by:
- Reducing false alarm callouts to save fuel
- Electrifying our light fleet - we have 31 electric and nine hybrid vehicles
- Encouraging more mahi (work) to be done online to reduce the need for travel (through our travel policy)
- Collecting quality data for better monitoring and reporting
- At NHQ we’ve signed up to use NZ Courier’s Enviro360 courier bag – which recycles used courier packs into building materials to reduce waste and carbon emissions and are looking to expand this further.
We need to keep up the good work as our next target is a 42% reduction by 2030.
Our efforts have not gone unnoticed – at last year’s Toitu Envirocare Brighter Future Awards we were one of five finalists for Climate Action (biggest reduction) for large organisations.
Read more in Tā Mātou Rautaki Kōkiri i te Āhuarangi Hurihuri - Our Climate Response Strategy 2022—2030(external link).
What you can do
There are some simple things we can all do to reduce your personal impact on te taiao (the environment).
Looking at your commute can be a good place to start. Can you use public transport? Bike? Walk? Instead of driving.
This year’s World Environment Day theme is “solutions to beat plastic pollution” and UN Environment Programme – Beat Plastic Pollution(external link) have published a detailed overview of how plastics impact our environment.
They’ve also shared tips for how you can reduce plastics in your daily life, which include:
- Using reusable coffee mugs
- When eating out – looking for food with no plastic packaging
- Taking part in a beach or river clean
- Looking into sustainable clothing lines, vintage shops or repair your clothes
