KEY POINTS:
The clean, green image of New Zealand is being tarnished by environmentally unfriendly practices of its businesses, according to an international survey.
The survey of 2300 human resources managers in 17 countries found that only 29 per cent of Kiwi employers had environmental policies or activities in place. Only Germany scored worse, with 26 per cent.
New Zealand also had the lowest proportion of companies - 8 per cent - to include environmental issues in their financial reporting, and the highest number of human resources managers - a third - who believed going green did not improve a company's image to investors.
The survey, which included 137 executives from New Zealand, was carried out by recruitment agency Robert Half.
Steve McGowan, Auckland division director of Robert Half Technology, said the findings were a "wake-up call" and his firm's offices in the US and Europe were good at turning off computers and lights at night, "things we would probably do at home".
McGowan said the survey was "a bit of a blow" for New Zealand's reputation. "We've got that image out there that we are clean and green. The results were not what we expected."
New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development chief executive Peter Neilson was also surprised by the findings. But he said a relatively small number of people were surveyed and HR managers might not always have complete information on a company's green credentials.
"It doesn't quite gel," said Neilson. "HR might not be in the loop about environmental policies. It's not seen as an HR function."
He believed employers in New Zealand were "mostly quite good" on environmental issues, although there was room for improvement.
"The larger the business, the more likely it is to have formal policies. Most organisations are attempting to be in compliance with the law."
Neilson said HR managers could be "losing a huge opportunity" by not promoting companies' green policies.
The business council is helping employers with green environmental issues such as recycling, buying environmentally friendly materials, assessing carbon footprints by looking at vehicle use and air travel, and changing shift patterns for cleaners so offices are shut at night.
"There are indications that ... people are doing audits and carrying them out," Neilson said.
