Climate change is not a choice, it’s billions of them. We need to move from commitment to action, and Deloitte can accelerate these efforts through the power of collective action with both our people and our clients. By empowering and educating our professionals on climate change impacts, we enable them to make positive climate change choices both at work and at home. To do this, we engage our people in a number of initiatives throughout the year, creating opportunities to connect, learn and participate in action for the climate.
Deloitte participated in Aotearoa Recycling Week 2023. This annual initiative educates and raises awareness about best practices for waste minimisation and recycling. It encourages conscious procurement and better thinking around the disposal of items, with the ultimate aim of a waste-free future for New Zealand. Initiatives included a food waste awareness lunch session in our Wellington office with a community restaurant that rescues imperfect produce otherwise bound for landfill.
We put our waste reduction knowledge to the test during our Auckland office move in January 2024. We encouraged our people to collect items such as unused stationery and merchandise and distributed them to high-need community organisations and schools.
A stand-out event this year was a panel discussion on nature and biodiversity in Aotearoa, held to mark Earth Month in April. Speakers included Chief Executive of Forest & Bird – Nicola Toki, Department of Conservation Cheif Science Advisor – Mike Bunce, and Capital Kiwi Founder – Paul Ward. Indigenous knowledge experts Rick Shaw and Tamarapa Lloyd, partners from Deloitte Australia and Deloitte NZ respectively, were also on the panel. The event was hosted by Louise Aitken, Sustainability & Climate Partner at Deloitte. The resounding message was that we are asleep at the wheel. The time for us to collectively take action and start investing in nature is needed now more than ever, rather than treating nature as an unlimited resource.
Through events, education and encouraging action, we hope to empower our people to help turn the tide through actions big and small, at home and at work.