KIWIS IN CLIMATE: Voices for Climate Solutions
We are not short of climate solutions.
We are short of alignment, courage, and coordinated action.
That was my overriding reflection after attending the Auckland launch of Kiwis and Climate on 20 March.
It would be easy to assume that a climate book launch is a worthy but predictable affair—well-meaning ideas, familiar concerns, and polite applause.
This was different.
What I experienced instead was a room full of people already doing the work—lawyers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers—each tackling climate change from a different angle, yet all pointing in the same direction.
And that, in itself, is both encouraging… and challenging.
A Story That Isn’t Being Told
The book was born from a simple but powerful observation:
The public narrative around climate—particularly in political discourse—often suggests hesitation, retreat, or division.
Yet behind the scenes, there is a deep and active ecosystem of New Zealanders working on solutions.
Kiwis and Climate brings those voices together.
It is not written for one audience. It is written for all of us:
Those beginning their climate journey
Those integrating climate into their work
Those already deeply engaged
Its core message is clear:
Climate action is not someone else’s responsibility. It sits within the roles we already hold—as citizens, investors, business leaders, and community members.
Climate Is a System, Not a Sector
One of the most valuable insights from the event was this:
Climate is not a single issue. It is a system.
And like any system, it has multiple levers:
Policy and regulation
Legal accountability
Capital allocation
Business innovation
Community action
Each speaker represented a different part of that system.
For example:
Legal practitioners are using the courts to test whether government policies meet climate obligations.
Investors and philanthropists are exploring ways to fund early-stage climate solutions at scale.
Businesses are redesigning products and processes to reduce emissions materially—not marginally.
No single lever is sufficient.
But together, they form something far more powerful:
The potential for systemic change.
From Trade-Off to Opportunity
For decades, ethical investing has carried an implicit assumption:
If you do the right thing, you may have to accept lower returns.
That assumption is now being challenged—decisively.
One of the most compelling ideas discussed was this:
The real opportunity is to make more money from saving the planet than from destroying it.
This is not theoretical.
We are already seeing:
Growth in impact investing strategies
Innovation in climate-focused venture capital
Increasing recognition of climate risk in traditional portfolios
From a Money Matters perspective, this aligns closely with how we think:
Longer – Climate risk and opportunity play out over decades
Wider – Investment impacts extend beyond shareholders
Deeper – Values and purpose matter in capital allocation
Lighter – There is genuine optimism in building a better future
The shift is underway.
The question is whether investors will lead it—or lag it.
The Hard Reality: Behaviour Change
While the conversation was rich with innovation, one theme stood out:
Solutions alone are not enough.
Adoption is the real challenge.
A business example shared at the event illustrated this well:
A company redesigned its product packaging to significantly reduce emissions—yet still struggled to get customers to return and reuse it.
Why?
Because behaviour is deeply ingrained.
This highlights a critical truth:
Climate change is not just a technical problem. It is a human one.
Progress requires:
Simplicity
Incentives
Clear communication
Cultural shift
Without these, even the best solutions remain underutilised.
The Fragmentation Problem
Perhaps the most honest part of the discussion was this:
We are not as aligned as we need to be.
There are many excellent initiatives across New Zealand—but they are often:
Disconnected
Competing for attention
Communicating different messages
Meanwhile, those resisting change tend to be:
More coordinated
Better resourced
Clearer in their messaging
This creates a strategic imbalance.
In an election year, this matters.
The opportunity—and the challenge—is to:
Align around a small number of clear, shared priorities
Communicate them consistently
Reach beyond the existing “converted” audience
Because ultimately:
Public sentiment drives political action.
The Power of Transparency
One of the more encouraging insights was the role of transparency.
When people are given clear, accessible information:
Investors adjust portfolios
Consumers change behaviour
Citizens engage more actively
This reinforces a key belief:
Most people want to act responsibly—if they are informed and empowered to do so.
For investors in particular, this is significant.
Where capital flows, change follows.
A Moment of Choice
It is easy to feel discouraged by the current environment:
Policy uncertainty
Slower-than-needed progress
Competing priorities
But this event offered a different lens.
It showed that:
Capability exists
Innovation is happening
Commitment is real
What is missing is not effort.
It is scale and alignment.
Closing Reflection: The Steward Is Us
If there was one message I took away, it is this:
We are not observers of this transition. We are participants.
As investors, advisers, business leaders, and citizens, we each play a role.
And the decisions we make—particularly about capital—have consequences far beyond ourselves.
The future we are investing in…
is the future we are creating.
Call to Action
If this resonates, consider three practical steps:
Review your investments – Are they aligned with the future you want to see?
Engage with the conversation – Move beyond headlines and into substance
Support aligned solutions – Capital, attention, and advocacy all matter
Because in the end:
Climate action is not a separate agenda.
It is embedded in every decision we make.