The website Carbonpositive reports that the giant shipping company, Maersk, is reducing its consumption of fossil fuel (bunker fuel) by cutting travel speeds. Maersk is one of the main transport companies for New Zealand exports.

According to the article (www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2278) Maersk reports that between 2007 and 2010  it reduced its CO2 emissions per container by 14.5% by improving operational efficiency, most particularly by slow steaming.  The company has set itself the target for reducing CO2 emissions by 25% per container moved by 2020 compared to 2007 levels.

This has implications implications for New Zealand.  Fonterra exports 95% of its milk to nearly 150 countries.  Maersk provided the logistics of getting NZ milk from point A to point B.  By achieving (and setting) significant CO2 reductions  in transport, it means that the environmental impact of our dairy products is reduced.  It also sets a standard that Fonterra can aspire to.  Wouldn't it be great If Fonterra would set itself the standard of reducing the carbon footprint of each container load of dairy product from cow to container!  It would be a source of pride for all of us.

 The Census of Marine Life has just announced the publication a new document entitled Scientific Results to Support the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Marine Life. The report can help marine planners, resource managers and policy makers to craft science-based policy. It summarizes the discoveries, tools and technologies from the decade-long Census of Marine Life. Included are examples and data that can inform decisions about ecosystem and species level protection.  It discusses findings about marine habitat degradation and rehabilitation and introduces Census-developed tools to identify biodiversity hotspots and large-scale ecological patterns and analyze distributions of species over time and space. 

Even if you are not a policy-maker or marine planner, the report provides a wonderful view on the majesty and mystery of life in the oceans.  It is well supported by maps and illustrations which help to give a much greater appreciation of marine biodiversity.  

The report is available for download from http://www.coml.org/policy-report. 

In planning for the environment it is easy to be seduced by received or accepted wisdom in relation to new technology. The Japan crisis underscores the power of nature and the importance of the precautionary principle in terms of environmental planning.

Read of the reaction in Europe to the crisis at:

 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10712699

Why is it that we need a crisis of this magnitude to ask the questions that European policy makers ask now?

For the people of Japan, I can only hope that the nuclear issues are resolved speedily and efficiently so that you have the opportunity to begin recovery  from such a devastating event. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Kate Mackness is a new staff person in the Environmental Planning programme.  Kate has a Master of Planning Practice from the University of Auckland, and a Diploma in Tourism from the University of Otago.  She has 10 years’ experience as a policy and resource management  planner.                                 

Professor Bob Evans, from the Northumbria University in the UK, has joined the environmental planning programme at Waikato.   WELCOME BOB EVANS!

This month NZPI have organised an exciting congress in Wellington for young planners - both students and those in the work place.

For details see: 

Great Barrier Island - symbol of wild New Zealand; image of romance; a wild and beautiful place.  But after visiting the Island, I can't help thinking, it represents a post-peak landscape; a landscape recovering from human devastation; a landscape that will take centuries to return to its full ecological capacity.