+ How do I start?

We are used to providing advice as experts, knowing the answer, or in the absence of that, being able to find answers. Climate action is likely to take you out of that comfort zone. But that doesn’t matter. You do not need to be an expert on climate change to incorporate climate thinking into your advice. Maintain your current area of expertise and enjoy a curiosity that enables you to layer climate thinking over that.

It’s a journey. Be nice to yourself and take things gradually until you are ready to move at a different pace - but do be consistent in progressing. A lot of what you learn might make you incredibly sad. Keep going. Good news and amazing, exciting new ways of doing things are on the other side of that.

Here are some ideas about early steps.

Talk to others – The way information is shared around the topics of sustainability and climate action is quite unlike what you might be used to. Across the world, and in recognition of the importance of urgent action, people willingly pass on information and ideas. And no one is pretending they have all the answers.

You don’t need to be an expert at climate change – you’re an expert adviser, start probing to see what is relevant to your advice. You can start with simple general questions:

• what climate action is your business taking?
• what is your firm’s sustainability policy?
• are your clients talking about the impact of climate change on their business?
• do you know how to start when it comes to climate change?
• how does that affect the carbon emissions target?
• do you know what the carbon emissions target is?

Ask the questions of:

• your clients
• your bank (they are a wealth of information)
• your insurer
• the lawyer on the other end of the phone
• your LinkedIn contacts
• your landlord
• your mates
• the barista

Talk to yourself! Get into the habit each time you spend money, of stopping for 10 seconds first and asking yourself:

• will buying this make me part of the problem or part of the solution?
• what is the impact of this purchase on Earth?
• do I know what the retailer and the wholesalers’ reputations are for being sustainable?

You might not change your behaviour for a while but keep asking yourself the questions. Soon you might. In any event it will help you begin to get into the mindset of applying this type of lens to decisions. Practice. Take a moment to review your advice or your documents through a climate action lens Even if your client hasn’t asked for this, even if you don’t plan to give the advice to them yet, get into the habit of stopping for a few minutes and asking yourself:

• how will this advice be viewed in 2, 5, 10 years’ time, with hindsight?
• how does what is planned impact New Zealand’s carbon emissions targets?
• If climate action were an imperative for this client, how would this advice, this document be different?

Your client’s failure to specifically instruct you on climate matters is not an excuse for failing to consider the issue. Remember you are a trusted advisor, not a transaction technician. Speak up. Presuming your client is not interested in climate action might be underestimating them. Most want to save the planet too. Many do not know where to start. If you think a client does not want you to give them any advice about climate risk, incorporate that into the engagement contract. You might be surprised at the response.
Remind yourself that your busy-ness is not an excuse for incomplete advice. Just because you are ultra-busy addressing what your client tells you they want addressed, you are not let you off the hook in respect of addressing other relevant matters.

+ What does sustainable development mean?

The meaning of sustainable development was resolved in New York on 25 September 2015 with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. On that day 193 countries pledged to “take bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resistant path.” and accepted the 17 sustainable development goals. New Zealand was one of those countries. The 17 sustainable development goals are:

The goals encompass economic, social, and environmental matters and they are seen as being intrinsically linked. Paragraph 13 of Agenda 2030 states:

“Eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, combatting inequality within and among countries, preserving the planet, creating sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and fostering social inclusion are linked to each other and are interdependent.” – (United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015)

+ What is the target for climate action?

Climate action is about reducing carbon emissions. Records from 2018 show New Zealanders emit about 18 tonnes of greenhouse gases per person every year. Of the OECD countries, only Australia, USA, Canada and Luxembourg emit more per person.

New Zealand’s legislation supports the global effort under the Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels and requires the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (other than biogenic methane) to net-zero by 2050.

+ What’s the rush?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science on climate change. Following the Paris Agreement, it examined whether the goal of 2 degrees Celsius below pre-industrial levels was sufficient. It compared it to the impact of achieving 1.5 degrees below.

In 2018 IPCC produced a report that made people change their expectations around the Paris Agreement goals. The report found that the impact of reducing warming to 1.5 degrees (rather than 2 degrees) was hugely significant for both humans and other species, for example limiting the warming to 1.5 degrees rather than 2 “could reduce the number of people exposed to climate-related risks and susceptible to poverty by up to several hundred million by 2050,”.

To have any chance at achieving the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, the world’s carbon emissions need to reduce this decade by at least 50%. In 2030 they need to be no more than one half of what they are now.

Currently New Zealand’s carbon emissions are increasing.

+ How can lawyers and other advisors make a difference?

Trusted advisors influence decisions and decision-making. They keep track of up-coming regulatory requirements, and market and social trends and guide their clients in how to meet them. They have the skills and focus to digest large amounts of complex information, to distill them into easy-to-understand relevant bite-sized chunks. They enable their clients to make decisions considering future requirements – decisions that impact financial outcomes and the resilience of their client organisations. Because they interact with multiple players, these advisors can understand the activity that is happening across the spectrum of different sectors, and even influence that activity by analysis of risks, obligations and new opportunities.

You might be used to applying those skills to a particular area of expertise, but they can also be applied across a range of climate related expectations and requirements.

The New Zealand government is implementing transformational changes across various sectors. Knowing what is coming supports robust decision-making by clients.

+ What organisations can I join?

Here are a few active organisations that you may be interested in knowing about/supporting/keeping an eye on:

• LCANZi Lawyers for Climate Action
• Chancery Lane Project An international collaboration of lawyers that draft clauses and contracts dealing with climate change.
• Climate Leaders' Coalition A CEO led organisation specifically aimed at reducing NZ's carbon footprint. Signatories are committed to carbon emissions reductions.
• Sustainable Business Council A CEO led business network supporting sustainable thinking. 100 members with a collective turnover of $87billion. The Council takes collective action to promote sustainability thinking.
• Sustainable Business Network A network of people, groups, organisations working for systematic change in NZ around climate change specifically and sustainability issues more generally.
• Australia Legal Sector Alliance Supporting Australian law firms to act sustainably
• GenLess Provides practical assistance in reducing carbon emissions through using less energy. Supported by EECA.

+ What can you do to help me?

I can help to bring you up to speed on background information, trends, and climate issues that might impact your area of expertise. I can bounce ideas, teach staff, write material for you to use in communicating with clients and others, share things that I am learning. I prepare templates to help generate relevant discussion. I keep my eyes and ears open to changes that are happening that impact the professions and I can pass that information on to you. Email me on debra@debradorrington.co.nz or sign up to my website here if you would like to know more.

+ What happens if we don’t do anything?

In their 2020 book “The Future We Choose, Surviving the Climate Crisis” Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett- Carnac set out 2 possibilities of life in 2050. In one we have managed to stem carbon emissions. In the other we have not. Christiana was the UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change at the time of the signing of the Paris Agreement. Tom Rivett – Carnac was a senior political strategist for the agreement.

Here is an extract from their book, explaining life in 2050 when we have failed to reach our net zero target. In the book, these predictions are littered with references to scientific and academic writings supporting the predictions. I haven’t repeated those here:

“…..extreme weather events of increasing frequency and intensity all over the world: floods, heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and hurricanes. Half the world’s tropical forests have been cleared, and every year about 12 million more hectares are lost. In about 40 years, at the current rate, 1 billion hectares could be gone – a land mass equivalent to Europe. In the last 50 years, the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined by 60 per cent. Some suggest we are already living through the sixth mass extinction. According to the latest research, 12 per cent of all surviving species are currently threatened, and climate breakdown will significantly amplify that threat. Oceans have absorbed more than 90 percent of the extra heat we produced over the last 50 years. As a result, half of the world’s coral reefs are already dead, and the Arctic summer sea ice, whose reflective capacity helps to regulate temperatures all over the world, is shrinking rapidly. The melt from land glaciers has already caused sea levels to rise more than 20 centimetres, leading to major salt intrusions in many aquifers, worsening storm surges and existential threats to low-lying islands. “

When I was young, 2020 was further into the future than I could imagine. I remember how I felt about that date. (It was such a nice round number.) Now, 2050 does not seem far away. I expect to still be alive. My kids, and their kids too.