Govt3

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Govt3 was a sustainability programme operated by the New Zealand government. It was managed by the Ministry for the Environment. "Govt" stands for government and "3" stands for the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. [1]

Sustainability process of maintaining change in a balanced fashion

Sustainability is the process of maintaining change in a balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. For many in the field, sustainability is defined through the following interconnected domains or pillars: environment, economic and social, which according to Fritjof Capra is based on the principles of Systems Thinking. Sub-domains of sustainable development have been considered also: cultural, technological and political. While sustainable development may be the organizing principle for sustainability for some, for others, the two terms are paradoxical. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Brundtland Report for the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) introduced the term of sustainable development.

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on policies and issues affecting the environment, in addition to the relevant environmental laws and standards.

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The programme was set up under a Labour led government in 2003 to encourage government departments to minimise waste and adopt sustainable practices. By July 2007 48 central government agencies had joined the programme and by 2009 the programme was saving the Government over $4 million each year through reduced travel demand (internal and international flights and taxis), double sided printing and other initiatives to reduce the amount of office consumables being used, lowered buildings operating costs through smart design of new buildings and energy efficiency retrofitting of existing buildings, reduced amount of waste going to landfill, improved procurement practices and other initiatives . [2] The National led government, which came into power in October 2008, ended the scheme in March 2009. [3]

The New Zealand Labour Party, or simply Labour, is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers describe Labour as social-democratic and pragmatic in practice. It is a participant of the international Progressive Alliance.

Consumables are goods that are intended to be consumed. John Locke specifies these as "consumable commodities". People have, for example, always consumed food and water. Consumables are in contrast to durable goods. Disposable products are a particular, extreme case of consumables, because their end-of-life is reached after a single use.

New Zealand National Party Major New Zealand political party

The New Zealand National Party, shortened to National or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its traditional rival, the New Zealand Labour Party.

The programmes work areas were sustainable building, transport, office consumables and waste. The sustainable building work stream built the financial case (The Value Case for sustainable building in New Zealand) for setting best practice performance targets for new and existing Government buildings. The sustainable building team worked with the industry to develop New Zealand specific performance targets and benchmarks (funded the industry adopt of the Green Star NZ rating scheme) to raise the overall environment and economic performance of Government buildings (all new buildings were to be 5 Star Green Star NZ by 2012). The team also developed an innovative sustainable building management tool (Build360) as a way of ensuring sustainable building practices were considered throughout the life-cycle of a building.

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Sustainability in New Zealand is being increasingly recognised as being good practice and the government has made some moves toward this goal.

Environment of New Zealand

The environment of New Zealand is characterised by an endemic flora and fauna which has evolved in near isolation from the rest of the world. The main islands of New Zealand span two biomes, temperate and subtropical, complicated by large mountainous areas above the tree line. There are also numerous smaller islands which extent into the sub antarctic. The prevailing weather systems bring significantly more rain to the west of the country. New Zealand's territorial waters cover a much larger area than its landmass and extend over the continental shelf and abyssal plateau in the South Pacific Ocean, Tasman Sea and Southern ocean.

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Energy conservation reduction in energy usage

Energy conservation effort made to reduce the consumption of energy by using less of an energy service. This can be achieved either by using energy more efficiently or by reducing the amount of service used. Energy conservation is a part of the concept of eco-sufficiency. Energy conservation reduces the need for energy services and can result in increased environmental quality, national security, personal financial security and higher savings. It is at the top of the sustainable energy hierarchy. It also lowers energy costs by preventing future resource depletion.

This is a timeline of environmental history of New Zealand. It includes notable events affecting the natural environment of New Zealand as a result of human activity.

Green building architecture designed to minimize environmental and resource impact

Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.

Green computing, green ICT as per International Federation of Global & Green ICT "IFGICT", green IT, or ICT sustainability, is the study and practice of environmentally sustainable computing or IT.

Domestic housing in the United Kingdom presents a possible opportunity for achieving the 20% overall cut in UK carbon dioxide emissions targeted by the Government for 2010. However, the process of achieving that drop is proving problematic given the very wide range of age and condition of the UK housing stock.

Kerbside collection

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The Code for Sustainable Homes is an environmental assessment method for rating and certifying the performance of new homes in United Kingdom. First introduced in 2006, it is a national standard for use in the design and construction of new homes with a view to encouraging continuous improvement in sustainable home building. In 2015 the Government in England has withdrawn it, consolidating some standards into Building Regulations.

Efficient energy use Energy efficiency

Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature. Installing LED lighting, fluorescent lighting, or natural skylight windows reduces the amount of energy required to attain the same level of illumination compared to using traditional incandescent light bulbs. Improvements in energy efficiency are generally achieved by adopting a more efficient technology or production process or by application of commonly accepted methods to reduce energy losses.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is a New Zealand government/Crown agency responsible for promoting energy efficiency and conservation.

The Building and Construction Authority is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government. It was established on 1 April 1999 through the merger of the Construction Industry Development Board and the Building Control Division of the former Public Works Department.

Climate change in New Zealand

Climate change in New Zealand refers to change in the climate of New Zealand on the scale of years, decades, centuries and longer periods of time. New Zealand is being affected by climate change and the impacts are predicted to increase in future. Anthropogenic global warming during the 20th century is apparent in the instrumental temperature record, in New Zealand's participation in international treaties, and in social and political debates.

Smoking in New Zealand

The use of tobacco for smoking in New Zealand has been subjected to government regulation for a number of decades. On 10 December 2004, New Zealand became the third country in the world to make all indoor workplaces including bars and restaurants smoke-free.

The energy policy of Malaysia is determined by the Malaysian Government, which address issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption. The Department of Electricity and Gas Supply acts as the regulator while other players in the energy sector include energy supply and service companies, research and development institutions and consumers. Government-linked companies Petronas and Tenaga Nasional Berhad are major players in Malaysia's energy sector.

National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE) is one of the eight missions under the National Action Plan for Climate Change taken by the Indian government to promote the market for energy efficiency by fostering innovative policies and effective market instruments. Its roots lie in the overall objective of The Energy Conservation Act of 2001. The mission document, which was approved in 2010, established the immense energy efficiency potential of India, which was about Rs. 74,000 crores. The Mission, upon its complete execution, envisages to achieve total avoided capacity addition of 19,598 MW, fuel savings of around 23 million tonnes per year and green house gas emissions reductions of 98.55 million tonnes per year. A recent World Bank study has estimated the country's energy efficiency market to be at 1.6 lakh crores.

New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme

The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme is a partial-coverage all-free allocation uncapped highly internationally linked emissions trading scheme. The NZ ETS was first legislated in the Climate Change Response Amendment Act 2008 in September 2008 under the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand and then amended in November 2009 and in November 2012 by the Fifth National Government of New Zealand.

Waste in New Zealand

The management of waste in New Zealand has become more regulated to reduce associated environmental issues.

The Climate Change Response Amendment Act 2008 was a statute enacted in September 2008 by the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand that established the first version of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, a national all-sectors all-greenhouse gases uncapped and highly internationally linked emissions trading scheme.

Electronic waste in New Zealand

Electronic waste in New Zealand is an environmental issue being addressed by community and government initiatives.

References

  1. ↑ Ministry for the Environment - Waste reduction and materials efficiency
  2. ↑ Environment New Zealand 2007. Wellington: Ministry for the Environment. December 2007. ISBN   978-0-478-30191-5.
  3. ↑ Watkins, Tracy (2009-03-11). "National takes axe to green schemes". Wellington: Dominion Post. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
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