Contact Energy (Contact) has won the award for Sustainability Leadership at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards held in Auckland on Wednesday 6 December.

The awards celebrate outstanding performances among New Zealand’s largest companies and highlight businesses working towards creation of long term environmental, social and economic value.

Contact’s win of the Sustainability Leadership award focuses on how it is leading decarbonisation efforts with their Contact26 strategy which includes significant ESG targets and includes more than $1.2 billion investment in renewable generation projects. Watch the video here.

Award judges Katie Beith, Head of ESG at Forsyth Barr, and Jo Kelly, Chief Executive of Toihu Tahua; commended Contact on significant efforts to decommission assets that generate electricity from fossil fuels, signifying a clear shift towards renewable energy sources and a clear intent to help decarbonise New Zealand.

“We are impressed that Contact’s efforts in the space are driven and supported by leadership and filter across the national business. They have created a galvanising framework for decarbonisation that attracts diverse talent and genuine innovations for sustainability actions,” said Ms Beith.

Contact CEO Mike Fuge is enthusiastic about what this means for the future of New Zealand. “These investments are key to enabling Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its decarbonisation goals,” he says. 

“We expect our generation portfolio to be more than 95 per cent renewable by FY27 and have set the ambitious goal to achieve net-zero emissions from our generation operations by 2035.”

Contact’s efforts have already boosted its renewable energy capacity to more than 80 per cent and led to a remarkable 33 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from generation since 2018.

In in his acceptance speech Contact CEO Mike Fuge acknowledged the wider Contact team and the hikoi they have been on together.

“Contact have been on this hikoi for a long time, and it is not easy. At times we will stumble, and we will make mistakes but as our whaka tautauaki says, mau taniwha mauri ora- face the monster and you will have a good life.

He also thanked our iwi partners who walk alongside us on our journey: "our paths past, present and future are inextricably intertwined."

Congratulations to our fellow finalists and all the 2023 winners! Read more about the awards here.

Media enquiries

Jody Bowman
Senior Communications Advisor
M: 021 029 53732
E: jody.bowman@contactenergy.co.nz

About Contact

Contact Energy is one of New Zealand’s largest energy retailer and generators. We have more than 580,000 connections with electricity, gas, broadband and mobile. Our vision is to build a better Aotearoa New Zealand by leading New Zealand’s decarbonisation journey. We believe home is the most important place in the world. It’s all part of our long-term vision to create and contribute to a better New Zealand; from the homes and communities we live in, to the land and resources that future generations can enjoy.

Website: contact.co.nz

More information can be found in Contact’s 2023 Integrated Report