A government report shows that Māori-owned businesses are twice as committed to taking action in the next five years in response to climate change as the business community in general.
The “Tatauranga umanga Māori – Statistics on Māori businesses: 2021” report by Stats NZ also shows Māori authorities exported $872 million in goods in 2021, up 21% on the previous year.
The total income of Māori authorities in the 2021 financial year was $3.95 billion, a 19% rise on the previous year.
Associate Minister of Statistics Meka Whaitiri, who is also associate agriculture minister, said it is great to see milk powder, butter and cheese contributing about a quarter of these exports.
“This shows Māori businesses are lifting their operations at pace and creating more opportunities for growth,” Whaitiri said.
“The government’s top priority is to secure our economy for New Zealand families and we’re working in partnership with Māori businesses to take full advantage of open borders and accelerate our economic recovery.”
The report shows that Māori businesses are being aligned to mātauranga Māori, which is critical to their climate action, with 85% of Māori authorities and 51% of other Māori enterprises saying they plan to take some action in response to climate change in the next five years, compared to 45% of all New Zealand businesses.
Fifty-four percent of Māori authorities said they are very aware of government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared to 27% of all New Zealand businesses.
“In Budget 2022, the government invested $30.5m to establish a platform for Māori Climate Action, and it’s encouraging to see Māori leading the way in preparing their businesses to respond to climate change,” Whaitiri said.
