Published 31 October 2021

COP26 – Five things you can do right now

There’s no denying that this is the decade of urgency for the climate and our planet. With COP26 running from 31 October to 12 November 2021, there has never been a better time for you to act. Need some inspiration? Keep reading.  

First up, what is COP26 and why does it matter?

COP stands for conference of parties, and it has been bringing together world leaders for the last three decades in an effort to respond to the climate emergency.

COP26  holds countries accountable to the goals they agreed to in the Paris Agreement, goals which aim to keep the global temperature rises in check.

How we’re tracking here in Aotearoa, NZ

Countries are evaluated on their goals by a climate action tracker, and New Zealand is currently rated ‘highly insufficient. We are actually one of the only countries that has net zero emissions by 2050 goal enshrined in law (our Zero Carbon Act) but our current short-term policies will not keep up with that ambition.

 This is why our Emissions Reduction Plan is so important – it will outline how we are going to meet the goals we’ve agreed to and ensure we do our part in this decade of urgency for the planet.

You might think there isn’t much you can do as an individual, but there is – we need every single person to get involved. Take a look at our list of five things you can do right now to take action for our climate:

 Five Things You Can Do Right Now 

1. Have your say: make a submission on the current consultations on the emissions reduction plan and national waste strategy. If done right, these two processes could bring real change towards a regenerative, circular economy. But we need to take action and add our voices to make these existing drafts stronger and more far-reaching in their aims. Stay in touch with the Zero Waste Network; they will be producing guides to help make your own submission in November.

2. Add your signature to this petition to bring in ‘right to repair’ measures so it’s easier and cheaper for New Zealanders to get items repaired.  70% of our carbon emissions come from the production, consumption and use of stuff. The most effective way to reduce these emissions is to prevent our stuff from becoming waste. Right to Repair is a global movement to require good design, so products are designed to perform, but also to last and to be repaired whenever needed. It is advocating for repair to be accessible, affordable and mainstream, where everyone has access to spare parts and repair manuals for the entire lifetime of a product.
   
   You can also check out these templates from our Greenwashing blog to help you advocate for zero waste in your community:    Encourage your local hospitality joint to adopt reusable service ware with this template
   Encourage a company to reconsider the use of plastic packaging with this template

3. Watch TexEd - a free textile education series. Highly resource intensive, textiles are both a priority and also an opportunity when it comes to reaching our climate change commitments. These monthly one-hour sessions each focus on a different challenge in the sector, bringing in the specialists, the scientists, the fashion lovers, the movers and the shakers and the quiet grafters. Find out more.
   
   And, if sustainable fashion floats your boat, take a look at the Ethical Fashion Guide from Tearfund. The Guide is a practical tool you can use to demand change by supporting brands that are investing in ethical and sustainable practices in their supply chains. It grades brands on their efforts to protect the people making their clothes and reduce their environmental impact - so you can look AND feel fabulous.

4. Start reducing food waste. In Aotearoa we waste $1.17 billion dollars on food every year, throwing away one eighth of every food shop. Food waste produces 325,975 tonnes of carbon emissions each year - to offset this we would need to take 118,107 cars off the road for one year or plant 130,390 trees. Take a look at our blog on food waste for some awesome tips on how you can reduce your FOODprint on the environment.
   
   It's also a great idea to keep a compost bin or worm farm. Sustainability Trust sells Bokashi Buckets, which are a popular alternative to organics recycling, for those who don’t have a lot of space. No yard? No problem! Have a look into community composting options, such as the ones that Sus Trust are setting up in collaboration with Kaicycle, which you can read about here. You can also check out ShareWaste and see if someone in your neighbourhood has a compost that you can contribute to.
   
   If you’re a keen DIYer, you could have a go at making your own worm farm. Or if you’re not a fan of DIY, you can call in the Why Waste Worms crew and sign up to their worm farm rental/subscription service for your home or office.
   
   Other stuff that you might want to check out:
   Foodprint app - Foodprint helps you reduce food waste and enjoy delicious meals at a fraction of the price.
   Everybody Eats – Everybody Eats is a pay-as-you-feel dining concept for everyone. They serve delicious, chef-prepared meals that feed bellies, not bins.
   NZ food waste champions  12.3 - New Zealand’s Champions of 12.3 are a coalition of representatives from across the food supply chain, championing Aotearoa's progress towards halving food waste by 2030. They consist of executives from large retailers, small start-ups, food rescue charities, membership organisations and more.  

5. Make sure your finances are ethically invested. Most of us want our money to be invested ethically. But billions of KiwiSaver funds are invested in fossil fuels, animal testing, weapons and human rights violations.

The interesting thing is that our financial footprints could actually matter more than our carbon footprints. Switching private pensions to sustainable ones that exclude fossil fuels could potentially be up to 27 times more impactful than cutting meat from our diets, limiting international travel, and taking up other lifestyle changes.

Mindful Money has a great tool that matches your values with an ethical fund, one of which is a new KiwiSaver scheme aiming to give Kiwis the option to avoid environmentally risky investments and instead put their money into areas where it can make a difference.

“Each year the average UK pension pot finances 23 tonnes of CO2 emissions through the businesses it invests in – the equivalent of running nine family cars each year or burning 1,100 coal fires annually – according to a firm called Cushon, which, earlier this year, launched what it claimed was “the world’s first net-zero pension”.