Emissions reduction collaboration gets award nomination

The BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) have been nominated as finalists in the Outstanding Collaboration category for the 2021 Sustainable Business Awards.

The nomination is for the New Zealand Energy Scenarios TIMES-NZ collaboration on energy scenario modelling, exploring potential opportunities and trade-offs that can reduce emissions in future energy industry decisions.

The modelling covers the transport, heat industry power, agriculture, forestry, fishing, commercial and residential sectors.

BEC executive director Tina Schirr says the nomination demonstrates what can be achieved when government and the private sector work closely in collaboration and recognise the important role of information in achieving widespread decarbonisation.

“The New Zealand Energy Scenarios TIMES-NZ 2.0 allows for comparison of energy needs and emissions outcomes and adds to the ecosystem of available modelling tools to help decision makers address climate change.”

EECA evidence and insights manager Kate Kolich says climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time.

Almost 41% of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from energy use and the challenge is to get this number down.

“Decisions need to be made now across all sectors, and a modelling tool such as TIMES-NZ can help improve the quality of these decisions.”

The Sustainable Business Awards will be announced on November 25.