What makes a sustainable society?
Nau mai, haere mai.
Welcome to our second edition of Rātā Connect for 2024.
In this issue, we revisit our Purpose and examine what we mean by Rātā striving for a sustainable society and our work to support that outcome.
Over the last five years, Rātā has invested over $6.5 million into environmental and conservation work that will enable sustainable outcomes for our community.
Through investment in our Strategic Environment Pou and proactive and responsive funding, we want communities and organisations to be environmentally sustainable to help reduce adverse environmental impacts for future generations.
Community funders like Rātā, whose assets are for the public good, play an important role in accelerating effective responses to climate change. One way we have shown our commitment is to become a signatory of the Community Trusts’ Funders Commitment on Climate Action Aotearoa.
Our funding regions have been hit by several natural disasters that have adversely affected the environment. We must address these issues at a landscape scale to meet the challenges of climate change, conservation, environmental restoration, and biodiversity loss. Developing partnerships between iwi, the private sector, community groups, and government will achieve the greatest impact in this area.
Our research shows us that strong collaborative partnerships that have iwi at the centre of planning and design and embrace mātauranga Māori already make a difference in the restoration and revitalisation of the environment. This has given us the confidence to make significant financial contributions to landscape-scale environmental projects within our region.
We want to see a world where we care for the environment and climate so future generations can thrive. We do this by investing in the following:
- Collaborative approaches that support environmental planning and prioritisation at a landscape scale to help guide future environmental activity and investment.
- Landscape-scale approaches that enhance biodiversity and nature-based solutions to mitigate or adapt to environmental impacts of climate change.
We are also working to support community organisations to adapt to climate change and reduce their carbon emissions through a tailored programme with partner Terra Nova. We also want to help strengthen community organisations to deliver better social outcomes.
Our mahi in this important area does not just extend to our community investment and engagements – it is reflected through our investment portfolio objectives.
We want to maximise our financial prosperity but not at the expense of the well-being of te ao (the planet) and ngā tāngata katoa (the people). Our investment goals seek to invest sustainably, leaving our natural, human, and cultural resources stronger and healthier because of our activity.
As an organisation, we are working towards being Net Carbon Zero by 2050. We understand it will take commitment and leadership. Currently, we are measuring our carbon footprint to see where we can make practical changes or offset and reduce the carbon in our investment portfolio.
Ultimately, everyone deserves to live in a world where we care for the environment so we can empower future generations to thrive.
Ngā mihi nui,
Leighton Evans
Chief Executive
