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The cost of ignoring a festering sore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The cost of ignoring a festering sore
Christchurch, New Zealand - August 9, 2013 12.00 pm
The recent description of our once-proud 100% pure brand as a "festering sore" had special relevance to me. A few weeks ago I had a very minor graze on my knee that I dismissed as not worth worrying about, but a week later it turned into "a festering sore". Within a couple of hours I went from everything being completely normal to experiencing excruciating pain before being ambulanced into hospital where I spent the next two weeks on massive doses of IV antibiotics. I discovered that festering sores are not something anyone can ignore.
So when the Chinese government diagnoses our environment as being a festering sore and they identify that our "food safety problems" are "beginning to look systemic" and ask questions like "where's the quality control?"; it's time to listen. It means they don't believe us when we tell them we're clean and green and that there are deep seated and widespread problems in the way we do things, judging by the fact that we don't sell quality goods. When an official organisation expresses that opinion, even if completely unfounded, it's extremely worrying, but the worst thing is that they're right.
But it's OK, Fonterra has apologised profusely while promising never to do it again and the Prime Minister has dismissed the criticism claiming that "just because Fonterra had a problem with one of its production runs, it shouldn't be assumed that New Zealand doesn't have a clean, green image". 1 Unfortunately, John Key is wrong: we have a very serious problem with our clean, green image. Over the last few days New Zealand's environmental record has been getting a pasting from the world's media. Reuters stated that "for a country that markets itself to the world with the slogan "100% Pure", New Zealand's environmental credentials are not as impeccable as many would think." 2; the UK newspaper The Daily Mail reported that "despite marketing claims, New Zealand has a poor environmental record" 3; and The Chicago Tribune revealed the shameful truth that "the majority of its rivers are too polluted to swim in. Its record on preservation of natural environments is among the worst in the world on a per capita basis. 4" These are just a few of many examples being broadcast around the world.
If we still even have a clean green image, we may not have one for very much lot longer. That's potentially devastating to Brand NZ because it means many of our export industries, including tourism, will come under close scrutiny and exporters will start to find that the claims they make will need to be substantiated. And it's likely that even some of the genuinely clean, green businesses that operate with high standards of quality control will need to prove it.
We simply cannot count on our government to do anything other than exhibit hubris and complacency which means as New Zealand business people we have a choice: we can weather the storm or create an opportunity.
The opportunity we have ahead of us is to publicly accept that our environment is in dire straits and own up to our shameful record. The world already knows that nearly two thirds of our rivers are not safe to swim in so if we don't admit it we'll be seen as weak and untrustworthy. However, if we take full responsibility for how badly we've treated this stunning little country, and then we commit to doing everything in our power to make things right and work with absolute transparency, the world will start to see us as having integrity and courage. We will demonstrate just what can be done when a country cares about tomorrow and places values and authenticity above avoidance.
As members of the Canterbury Sustainable Business Forum, we're ready to start work and are looking for others to join us. Between us we have all we need to get things started, and the more of us there are, the more we can do and the less time it will take to sort out the mess we're in.
1. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/dairy2013/216276/china-criticism-of-100-percent-pure-brand-rejected
2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/06/us-newzealand-milk-image-idUSBRE97503H20130806
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