Biochar is a much-touted but rarely used carbon-rich material derived from organic waste, great for soil health. Kind of like charcoal it’s the result of slow, anaerobic burning.  But it has not yet been widely tested in perennial tree or vine crops. Until now. Zespri has been trailing biochar as part of new innovation programme. This project aims to assess the impact of biochar application in kiwifruit orchards when applied with and without the addition of compost, looking at its effect on soil characteristics and fruit production, as well as the economics of application. The results will give growers increased confidence when trialling this promising product and also reinforce Zespri’s leadership in sustainable farming practices.

Vincent spoke to Eu Jin Cheah, Global Leader, New Values Opportunities and Bryan Parkes, Head of Innovation Acceleration, both at Zespri.

See the innovation fund here: https://www.zespri.com/en-NZ/zagfund

Lee Stewart has written the book on sustainable business...No, actually, he really has!

He’s written the e handbook ‘How to build sustainability into your business strategy’ for managers across Australasia. A Kiwi with experience in the UK, Australia and the Pacific, Lee has worked for Fujitsu and Fonterra and now heads ESG Strategies, a consulting company to corporations, and he joins me from a glorious sunny Sydney.

New Zealand was an early mover in corporate climate disclosure; these days around 200 of our largest companies publicly report on what they’re doing about their emissions and the risk they’re exposed to from climate change. Now the government is considering relaxing the reporting regime because, we’re told, it’s onerous and expensive.

Victoria University’s Dr Yinka Moses has studied climate reporting practices in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, and he tells Ross Inglis that cutting back on them is simply bad for business.

The industrial adhesives essential to MDF, particle board and the like are a health hazard and a $12billion business. New Zealand company Nilo has a better, kinder glue made from recycled plastics. Managing director Tim Williams tells Ross Inglis all about a sticky business.

On May 13 the best and brightest descend on Rotorua for the Sustainable Brands conference, the first time this global franchise will host a major event down under. Now in its 17th year, Sustainable Brands is a ‘community of optimists who believe in brand-led market transformation’. It takes a brave man to feel optimistic right now and perhaps even braver to run a conference. Vincent talks to SB’s NZ leader Lewis Patterson.

In September 2023, a group of scientists and writers had a paper published in a niche academic journal. The paper “World scientists’ warning: The behavioural crisis driving ecological overshoot” might have quietly retired in a graveyard along with a thousand other important but forgotten tomes - except it didn’t. At last count the paper has had 70,000 downloads and ranks in the top 1% of academic papers. In short, the paper describes how our modern human behaviour means we consume too much and waste too much. That’s called overshoot - as terrible as it is, it's now new news. What’s novel, is the paper’s proposition that it’s human behaviour - not technology, not law, not economic systems not even our values - that are the drivers: it’s human behaviour. And just as our maladaptive behaviours got us here, so too can better behaviours get us out.

To expand on the paper and to explain its popularity, Vincent was joined by the lead author, Joseph Merz of the Merz Foundation.

Merz Institute

New Paper Identifies ‘Behavioural Crisis’ Driving Overshoot – Merz Institute

Just three years ago, the average price of a takeaway coffee was $4.33. Since then prices have marched north with Stats NZ officially recording the average to be $4.85 but good luck finding that in Auckland or Wellington. The reason: coffee beans. The price of the most popular bean, arabica, soared 70% in 2024 and nearly 20% so far this year to an all-time high.

What’s going on - is someone skimming a profit here, is it climate change? To help us through this bitter news Vincent was joined by Richard Goatly, one of the brothers from Altezano Brothers coffee roasters. 

https://altezanobrothers.co.nz/

How do you promote sustainability effectively? Do you sugarcoat the bad news? Or scare them with the facts? When does green marketing become greenwashing or the reverse, greenhushing? The way we talk about sustainability can make a massive difference in its adoption. Especially in this febrile atmosphere of anti-woke, techbro, climate-denying toxicity. To get some insight on how to hold our tongues better, Vincent was joined by Rebecca Styles, who leads the investigations team at Consumer NZ and Fiona Stephenson, who leads comms at the Sustainable Business Network - both of whom are speaking at the Communicating Sustainability Masterclass in March 2025.

New Zealand’s newest target for reducing greenhouse gases is as little as one percent better than our previous one. Newsroom’s Marc Daalder tells Ross Inglis why the target matters, why it is so modest, and what it means for business.

As New Zealanders struggle with the worst recession in 34 years, a group of economists have warned that the government’s austerity programme is making it worse. One of those critics is Dr Ganesh Nana, former Productivity Commissioner and Chief Economist and Research Director at BERL, Business and Economic Research Limited. Ganesh is a regular advisor to industry and government and was part of the government’s Welfare Expert Advisory Group. He’s a cricket fan, numbers guy and has a passion for seeing Aotearoa New Zealand reach its full potential in all aspects, social, environmental and economic. Ganesh’s concerns about our approach to managing the economy is incredibly timely.

Vincent recorded this interview largely during an event at the Sustainable Business Network late last year.