5 July, 2021
KiwiRail is joining the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) and will be partnering with it to deliver sustainable outcomes across selected infrastructure projects.
KiwiRail moves people and freight by rail and sea and is the guardian of the national rail network. We aspire to be a modern, efficient rail company supporting many varied sectors of the New Zealand based supply chain.
“Sustainability is important to KiwiRail,” says KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer - Capital Projects and Asset Development, David Gordon.
“The company values inter-generational wellbeing in its social, environmental and economic decision-making and is the guardian of the rail corridor for future generations.
“That is why we have put in place commitments and strategies to help ensure sustainability is integrated into our decision-making, operations and capital works projects,” says Mr Gordon.
KiwiRail has a significant capital projects programme to achieve over the next 10 years. This is the result of recent Government investment to ensure New Zealand has a reliable and resilient rail network that will encourage more freight to shift from road to rail, thereby lowering overall greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.
By becoming an ISCA member, KiwiRail joins a community of like-minded organisations and professionals looking to leverage investment in infrastructure to provide greater social, environmental, cultural and economic benefits. Use of the council’s Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating Scheme will support KiwiRail in translating the aspirations in its corporate Sustainability Strategy into measurable outcomes, helping to drive delivery of broader outcomes across its capital projects.
“Certifying a project under a sustainability rating scheme will help drive further sustainability innovations and outcomes, as well as support us to build more internal capability and ensure we are delivering sustainable infrastructure for communities and customers into the future,” says Mr Gordon.
ISCA is Australia and New Zealand’s authority on sustainable infrastructure projects and assets. As a member-based, not-for-profit peak body operating across Australia and New Zealand, ISCA supports the sector with training and capacity building, connecting suppliers of sustainable products and services, and through advocacy that advances policy, standards and specifications toward a low carbon, resilient, inclusive infrastructure future.
ISCA’s recent study, IS Rating Scheme Return on Investment, found that infrastructure projects rated under the IS Rating Scheme can deliver up to NZ$2.60 in benefits for every dollar spent.
ISCA’s New Zealand General Manager Adrienne Miller says ISCA is delighted to see KiwiRail join the membership community.
“KiwiRail joins other major infrastructure procurers here in Aotearoa New Zealand leading the charge on different ways of doing things, particularly given the importance of rail to the decarbonisation of transport,” Ms Miller says.
KiwiRail will work with ISCA in coming months to ensure that information and places on ISCA’s training courses are available to internal and external stakeholders wanting to learn more about the IS Rating Scheme.