Customers, SMEs benefit from Climate Action Toolbox
BNZ has welcomed the launch of the Carbon Emissions Calculator as part of the Climate Action Toolbox.
The Climate Action Toolbox was created by the Sustainable Business Network with the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment and partners across the public and private sector including BNZ.
It was designed to help small to medium businesses identify ways to reduce their emissions and give them the tools to achieve it.
BNZ chief sustainability officer Rebekah Cain (pictured) said the carbon emissions calculator was an absolute game changer for SMEs, the New Zealand economy and the climate by delivering specific advice to SMEs on how to measure and reduce their emissions.
“Climate change, how we tackle it and how we adapt to it is incredibly important to all of us, and we all have a role to play,” Cain said.
“Larger organisations have the resources to run sustainability teams and set our plans and processes, but in the engine room of the economy – the small and medium businesses – there is less time and less resources to focus on sustainability.”
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Cain said this was where the carbon emissions calculator would make a huge difference.
“A busy SME owner can now simply answer a few simple questions and get a bespoke and tailored plan, totally unique to their needs, to reduce their emissions. It’s one thing to have a plan, but it’s another thing to have the capital and resources to put it into action,” she said.
“By taking the calculator’s outputs, we hope to be able to link green financing to help SMEs achieve their emissions goals and we’re extremely excited about the potential for this to really accelerate the transformation.”
BNZ was a founding partner of the Climate Change Toolbox in 2020 and Cain believed it was the key to help SMEs make a meaningful difference on climate change.
“We want to help develop a market-leading programme to support SME customers’ ambitions to tackle climate change, something that is quick and easy to use and that delivers real, practical advice,” she said.
“BNZ is committed to being net zero on carbon emissions on lending and investment by 2050 and we have an ambitious goal to get 50% of our SME customers measuring their emissions, setting reductions targets and reporting on their climate change impact by 2025.”
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Cain said the Climate Action Toolbox and the Carbon Emissions Calculator were key parts of the bank’s goals.
“We are here to support our SME customers carry out this crucial work and the calculator is yet another incredible tool at their disposal,” she concluded.
