Suncorp New Zealand has concluded the pilot run of its carbon management programme, developed by sustainability consultancy Oxygen Consulting.
The trial, which involved a pilot group of five suppliers, aimed to help these businesses become more sustainable. According to Suncorp, the programme helps small and medium sized businesses to identify their emissions, set science-based aligned targets for reductions, and create an action plan towards achieving their goals.
The suppliers that participated in the trial run were Green Park Panel and Paint, Cooper Young Construction, Phoenix Services Dunedin, Sun City Panelbeaters & Spraypainters and Rod Wood Collision Repair Centre.
Rob Siveter, Suncorp New Zealand’s sustainability manager, said the five suppliers were chosen to represent a range of sectors, sizes and locations, in order to give a view of how the programme could work across it’s supplier base. Each of the suppliers had also indicated an interest in reducing their emissions and contributing to New Zealand’s goal of becoming a net-zero economy by 2050.
“Insurers like Suncorp have an enormous opportunity to support and influence the small and medium sized businesses in our network to measure and reduce their carbon emissions, to reach New Zealand’s critical net-zero target, and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis,” Siveter said.
Suncorp said that it also benefited from supporting the suppliers through the programme, as it was able to get clearer picture of its indirect value-chain, also known as Scope 3, emissions, as well as gain insights on how it can build out an effective work programme on sustainability.
“In 2019, we surveyed 50 suppliers to evaluate their readiness to meet the sustainability requirements of our new supplier code of practice,” Siveter said. “Key insights that came out of this were that some suppliers were unsure what they could do to better understand and improve their environmental footprint.”
