The Impact Investing Network's Joseph Duke Euphrat recently sat down with Rebecca Mills , the founder of Lever Room, to discuss the company’s journey from a small carbon advisory firm to a leader in impact measurement and sustainability strategy. Since its founding in 2008, The Lever Room has navigated some of New Zealand’s most complex environmental issues, delivering solutions that blend science, innovation, and community action. In this interview, Mills opens up about the firm’s growth, key milestones, and the bold vision guiding their future work. So let's get started!
When/how was the company founded?
Founded in 2008, The Lever Room provides science-based sustainability and carbon advisory. We’re empowering transformational impact. The Lever Room has worked alongside business leaders and investors in the corporate, public, iwi & non-profit spaces to generate positive impact, for over 15 years.
How has the company grown over the years?
Despite significant challenges, we’ve stayed the course to be leaders in impact measurement and strategy development, going beyond business as usual to deliver projects that actively improve the vitality and long-term resilience of our nature, climate and communities.
We’ve intentionally focused on historically difficult problems to solve, delivering on the ground outcomes for urban regeneration, investment business strategy, agriculture and energy.
Now, in 2024 we are proud to share The Lever Room has developed and supported deployment of transformation plans for 126,650 sq km of New Zealand's land (equating to 47% coverage). Through our carbon measurement and management programme, we are currently managing reductions of 16.6 million tonnes of carbon on behalf of our clients. This is equivalent to approximately 65 million round-trip flights between Auckland and Sydney and would fill around 8,450 Empire State Buildings if it remained in gaseous form.
What role do you see The Lever Room playing within the impact measurement and management space?
Our services include impact measurement, due diligence and reporting. In a nutshell we help clients measure, assess and communicate the impact of their activities, investments or initiatives.
Beyond our work 1:1 with clients we have created practical tools to foster collaboration among diverse stakeholders which have now been used and downloaded by hundreds of people across the country. The Climate Collaboration Directory and Impact Economy Map empower individuals and organizations to see their roles in a sustainable ecosystem and encourage coordinated action.
As a values-led organisation we share methods to help advance the entire field. The Lever Room’s “Measuring What Matters” initiative for example is part of a global effort to enhance the measurement of social and environmental impacts, alongside financial metrics. Our aim in doing this work is to develop frameworks for partner organisations to advance the field of sustainability reporting and impact measurement.
Could you please share your thoughts around the intersection of climate change and societal impacts? How is The Lever Room examining, researching, and thinking about both impacts on people and the planet?
To ensure long term change we believe that a science-based, systems-scale approach is essential to deliver impactful solutions that go deeper than the superficial.
Our multi-pronged approach focuses first on understanding root cause issues to design solutions that are not just sustainable but actively improve outcomes over the long term. Our mission is to turn complex sustainability challenges into win-win-win outcomes for people, planet, and profit.
Our commitment to our mission is demonstrated through the design and implementation of several transformational initiatives which are creating demonstrated national and, in some cases, global scale impact.
Could you please share your thoughts around specific successes and challenges when measuring or examining environmental and/or social impact? How can The Lever Room better assist impact measurement and management needs within the market?
We are strategically targeting areas where New Zealand can achieve the greatest impact first. In our work with clients in impact, measurement, strategy and reporting we also have developed a carbon certification program which is is internationally recognised as best practice in its field. To make this accessible to partners at higher accuracy and lower cost we leverage tech-enabled processes to support comprehensive (scope 1-4) carbon measurement and draw on our expert expertise to account for carbon removals.
The Lever Room provides a number of different resources and reports, which can be found here. Can you share a bit more on a couple of your projects which may be of interest to the network.
Energy Poverty Reduction: The Lever Room has partnered with Raukawa to enhance the wellbeing of Ngā Uri o Te Poari Matua o Raukawa and strengthen kaitiakitanga (guardianship) over Te Taiao (the environment). In an unprecedented initiative, the team installed 840 temperature sensors in the homes of 420 whānau to monitor winter cold exposure, securing real-world data to address energy poverty. This project is testing energy intervention models to identify the most effective solutions for whānau, setting a benchmark for community-based climate resilience by open sourcing all methods for others to utilise.
Climate Action: Working with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, to develop a foundational Climate Position Statement and Transition Plan based seven measurable action areas. The team is now working to measure carbon impact and deploy projects including a shared electrified transport scheme to transition whānau and kaumātua from reliance on multiple petrol vehicles, demonstrating leadership in community-driven climate action.
Here's a link to the reports and resources if you're interested: https://www.theleverroom.com/resources
What is next? What should the IIN Community keep its eyes out for? Where vision do you have for The Lever Room in the future? How does The Lever Room plan to support expected growth within the impact measurement and management field?
Taking a leadership role in driving meaningful change isn’t always easy. We’re grateful to our growing community of partners and supporters who are working in collaboration with us to advance solutions for a sustainable and resilient future.
As part of our programme of work, we’re also excited to be scaling Native Carbon, our nature-based carbon removal programme
To further support expected growth in the impact measurement and management space we are continuing to build our team and take a partnership approach while building in public. Our team of carbon and impact specialists will continue to use impact science and technology to help clients achieve real-world positive outcomes for communities, businesses, and the environment.
Toitū te marae o Tāne, toitū te marae o Tangaroa, toitū te iwi.
A special thank you to Rebecca Mills for sharing her insights on The Lever Room’s inspiring journey and its vision for a sustainable future.
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