Author Rachel Loo
McKinsey talks to the chairman of Ecolab who believes that businesses can help solve the global water crisis if they engineer water circularity into their processes. Ecolab has 48,000 staff and provides water management services to more than 170 countries. It recently expanded its services to data centres where it provides chip-cooling solutions that minimise water use.
Countless studies have concluded that welding fume is a major carcinogenic yet few provide practical guidance on how to effectively control welding fume exposure. A survey of 1300 welders across Australia conducted by the Central University of Queensland examined product control methods such as on-gun fume extraction, hooded capture extraction and welding helmets with a powered air purifying respirator and compares their effectiveness in Australian and New Zealand settings.
Robinson Research Institute, a pioneer in high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) research, has received funding of $71million towards setting up and hosting an advanced technology platform in Future Magnetic and Materials Technologies.
New Zealanders will now be able to get into houses sooner and at less cost. So claims Building Consent Approvals (BCA) – the country’s first fully independent residential building consent authority. The privately-owned company will operate nationally and promises to issue building consents within a week and a half for eligible residential projects.
Tired of council consent delays
The country’s first accredited independent building consents provider has set ambitious performance targets for itself, including a 10 day or less timeframe for consents when applications meet requirements – far quicker than many current processes. Continue →
The rise of GLP-1s is shifting the discussion of obesity from an intractable issue to a treatable medical condition. Obesity could affect global GDP negatively by more than NZ$4.5 trillion by 2050 or a positive of almost $9.5 trillion with priorities on prevention and metabolic health, says McKinsey. Nearly 900 million adults around the world are living with obesity today, a substantial risk factor for at least 20 diseases which includes diabetes, cardiovascular conditions and brain health disorders.
Cybersecurity is squarely an issue for the board room now, says Ross Thompson, Group CEO of sustainability, data management and technology asset lifecycle at Greenbox. Knowing the ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘how used,’ ‘how disposed,’ and applicable laws around data and devices is a core reputational issue. Directors need to head off unintentional breaches of sensitive information and its exploitation arising from failure to keep track and properly dispose of IT assets.
OFSEC (Oman Fire, Safety & Security Expo and Summit) in Oman
11/11/2025 – 11/12/2025
Linking practitioners, suppliers, distributors and manufacturers from the fire, safety, HSE and security industry
OFSEC EVENT 2025 is designed to meet the needs of the local, regional and international markets with key decision makers from the government and private sectors, making it a definitive networking platform, where new projects and partnerships are initiated and visionary objectives are implemented. Continue →
RISE 2026 (Global Real Estate Investment Summit & Expo) in Dubai
Join us in Dubai World Trade Centre, for RISE Global from 13 – 14 October 2026. Continue →
CBRE assesses the potential impact of tariffs on the Asia Pacific economy, industrial and logistics, office and investment markets. While Asia Pacific countries account for one-third of the total trade in goods with the US, Australia and New Zealand appear well insulated with exports to the US less than one percent of GDP across the ditch and under three percent in New Zealand.
The global micromobility market is on the upswing and McKinsey reckons will more than double to US$340 billion by 2030. Micromobility refers to transportation via lightweight vehicles—bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters and electric mopeds—that are used for short-distance travel. If you live in a city, you will have seen evidence of micromobility’s rapid growth. Cities and their partners are offering micromobility vehicles as efficient, flexible, and environmentally friendly transportation options.
Levels of methane are now over 2.5 times higher than pre-industrial levels — two-thirds as much as CO₂. Understanding and quantifying the global methane budget is important for assessing realistic pathways to mitigate climate change. The little-known role of termites is part of insights on global methane sources and sinks by an international team of researchers including CMCC’s Sergio Noce.
A recent white paper by the World Economic Forum examines how gender gaps are shifting. Gender Parity in an Intelligent World explores workforce, skilling, and innovation scenarios where AI augmentation can support gender parity and inclusive growth. The paper provides strategic insights on how women and men are engaging with AI globally and sets the tone for further exploration of GenAI as an accelerant for gender parity.
Tech research and advisory giant Gartner predicts that by 2028, a quarter of job applicants globally will be fake, largely driven by AI-generated profiles. HR departments — many of them understaffed and working with outdated technology –have become prime targets. Fraudsters are deploying real-time deep fake video technology during virtual interviews that can match facial expressions and lip-sync with remarkable accuracy. Voice cloning technology can simulate accents and intonations.
The 2019 liquidation of Stanley Construction left about 200 subcontractors stranded. Master Electricians New Zealand, which represents around 10,000 individual electricians, is funding an application to seek a clear ruling from the High Court over the use of retention funds, in this case amounting to $2.1 million. Ford Sumner Lawyers has made an application for the court to review the liquidators’ actions and to appoint replacement liquidators to administer the retention monies.
Clarification sought on “salvage rights”
A nearly five-year-old liquidation process is now before the High Court in a collective action lawyers say could be precedent-setting for the construction and subcontractor industry. Continue →
A wide-ranging global report prepared by Cushman and Wakefield says the Asia-Pacific commercial property market is expected to remain sound in the face of US tariff and trade pressures. Nonetheless, despite support from the domestic market the region will not be exempt from the effects of a global slowdown as business increasingly adopt a more cautious approach to decision making. New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia buy more than they sell to the US market.
This AustRoad report compares significant developments in worker’s compensation schemes in Australia and New Zealand, which has a no-fault accident insurance scheme managed by ACC. The Kiwi scheme covers everyone who is injured in the country and replaces the right to sue for injury. Workers’ compensation in Australia is predominately jurisdictionally based, with coverage based on the location of employment. There are 11 state compensation schemes and three Commonwealth schemes.
