Toitu
Sustainability

Hei oranga tangata, hei oranga mo te ao turoa. We invest in people and nature.

In Te Tairawhiti, we’ve experienced first-hand how economic systems can place pressure on our whenua and how those made most vulnerable as a result are also often excluded from any financial benefit.

Like many rural populations, the East Coast of New Zealand has been ravaged by decades of slow economic growth – the promise of employment and opportunity in urban centres encouraging our people away from whānau and whenua. The options for haukāinga (those who have remained), particularly in the primary industries, have mainly been destructive – often unsafe and unsustainable.

Rua has a deep sense of kaitiakitanga. We believe we are responsible for protecting and nurturing our environment and sharing the benefits of a successful business with our community.

Our intergenerational view comes from a deep-seated belief that great business is good for the land and its people.

Te Anga Whakauka o Rua
Rua Sustainability Framework

We believe the medicinal cannabis industry should be equitable, sustainable, and accountable. The Rua Sustainability Framework is our master plan. It underpins our goal to lead the global industry as an ethical and sustainable medicinal cannabis business.

The Rua Sustainability Framework guides our sustainability programme. It will shape the way we engage with stakeholders, support sustainable decision-making processes, shape business strategy, guide innovation, drive better performance, and create value.

As we focus on developing pathways into sustainable and high-value jobs within our company and across the medicinal cannabis industry, we work with local rangatahi, fostering a fascination for all things science, technology, and engineering - inspiring the next generation to do incredible things from right here in Te Tairawhiti.

We do much of this work supported by our friends at Trust Tairawhiti.

Our priorities for 2023 include…

Rua and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In September 2015, all 193 Member States of the United Nations adopted a plan for achieving a better future for all — laying out a path over the next 15 years to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet. At the heart of Agenda 2030 are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which clearly define the world we want — applying to all nations and leaving no one behind.

Rua has used the UN Sustainable Development Goals to guide and form the Rua Sustainability Framework.