There’s a saying, “You need to be black to be green”. Profit drives investment and sustainability is no exception. Last week, unemployment data was more positive than expected and green shoots are appearing in the housing market. Inflation is a touch higher than expected so all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate announcement on 28 February.
Before getting too excited, remember we’re in a technical recession. The government has cancelled its last four quarterly carbon credit auctions because they didn’t reach the minimum reserve price. Green bonds globally were down in the second half of last year. The current carbon credit price is trading on the open market at about $73/tonne, which has risen by about $10/tonne since August but that is still relatively soft.
GreenHalo has been working with some NZX Limited listed companies where sustainability budgets are tight beyond belief. One Sustainability Manager can’t get enough resources to complete their mandatory reporting requirements so has been working six or seven days per week for months.
Reality bites environmental sustainability hard during tough economic times. Let’s hope the economy takes a positive turn shortly … but without the high interest rates, please.
Chris Bailey
GreenHalo Founder
Our mission is to support and grow the community of Green Angels. The front runners are the Sustainability Managers and some of them are doing it tough right now.
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