What can businesses do when consumers are change resistant? How can companies help promote consumer behavioural change in their efforts to decarbonise supply chains? What power do consumers really have in helping society and organisations make the transition to Net Zero?
We know Australians need to urgently change the way we consume goods and services to reduce our environmental footprints and make more conscious consumption decisions. But despite the urgency of the climate crisis, how business, policymakers and consumers themselves can make the shift to green, more environmentally friendly is still posing a significant challenge.
OK, so good afternoon everyone.
0:02
Welcome to the UTS during the Climate Action Week, Sydney 2025.
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My name is Marco Navone, I'm the Head of the Finance Department here in the UTS Business School and I'm honoured to be here to open the event on the consumption conundrum.
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Before we begin, I and the UTS Business School would like to respectfully acknowledge that we are locating on the land of the Galigal people of the Eora Nation and the Gadigal people have cared for their community, land and waters for thousands of generations based on their deep knowledge of their country.
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And we pay respect to their elders and acknowledge their ongoing status as the first people of this land.
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Now, I would also like to thank our industry panellists who I would introduce properly very soon for partnering with the UTS Business School on this event.
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Engaging with industry practitioners and bodies is a cornerstone of our approach to academic excellence.
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These collaborations not only provide us with valuable insight to inform our research and curriculum design, but also ensure that our programmes remain relevant and align with the latest industry trending requirements.
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Additionally, our fantastic industry partners create a meaningful opportunities for our students to expand their networks and horizons and enhance their employability.
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Today we are at the Alphaway Mark of the Climate Action Week in Sydney 2025 and I understand the events so far across Sydney has been engaging and thought provoking.
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We are proud here at the UTS Business School to be a socially committed Business School focus on developing and sharing knowledge for an innovative, sustainable and prosperous economy in a fairer world.
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And we are also proud to be the home of the Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience, a group of 40 researchers who provide business and organisations with tools to take urgent and immediate collaborative action to decarbonise the economy and regenerate the country and the planetary health.
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Today you will hear from the Director of the Centre, Professor Martina Lina Lerke, who I know will be more than happy to talk to you more about the Centre if you ask her after the event.
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It is my pleasure and privilege now to introduce the panellists to you, starting from the left of the stage.
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As I said, the Professor Martina Linolf, the Director of the UTS Centre for Climate and Risk and Resilience, She's regarded internationally as a leader in climate risk and resilience and has pioneered 2 streams of interdisciplinary research around organisational strategic adaptation and resilience to global environment change, specifically focus on climate change and environmental finance.
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Catherine King is the chief strategy officer at global advertising agency Leo Burnett.
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She has over 20 years of experience in the advertising industry with a focus on the intersection of brand, sorry brand building, human behaviour, culture and influence.
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Catherine has held a leadership position with creative consulting, strategic PR and digital teams across both multinationals and independent agencies in partnership with a broad range of brands.
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She's a leading an ongoing research which aims to better understand the role that brands should and could play in the areas of public interest encompassing human, social, environmental and financial impact.
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Nikki Sparshot is an experienced CEOA Board Director and Change Agent with 30 years of global experience working in leading blue chip organisations such as Unilever, Coca Cola and Procter and Gamble.
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She has lived and worked across international markets with extensive time in Asia Pacific, UK in Europe and has held a variety of senior leadership roles leading complex multi category businesses, multicultural teams and diverse business models.
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Most recently, she was the Global Chief Transformation at Unilever, designing and delivering value creating change initiative across the enterprise with a focus on organisational designs, performance, culture and portfolio optimization.
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Prior to that appointment, Nikki was the CEO of Unilever Australia, New Zealand and global CEO of luxury retailer T2T.
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We are proud to include Nikki as a member of our alumni community, having graduated with a Master International business.
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Nikki also serves on many boards, including as a Chair of our own Vice Chancellor, Industry Advisory Board, Chair of Global Sisters, Non Executive Director at the WWF and for Moose Toys 20/22.
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She was awarded the CEO of the Year by CEO Magazine.
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Shioban Tujill is a Sustainability advisor, having established and LED sustainability functions in listed finance and property over the past 20 years.
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As the first Chief Sustainability Officer at a major Australian bank, she was responsible for Westpac sustainability strategy as well as policy in action on climate change, including net zero transition planning, natural capital and human rights.
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Shioban has LED a wide range of initiatives including customer vulnerability and problem gambling, Indigenous engagement, child safeguarding, strategic philanthropy and social impact and is currently a trusted advisors to business and government through a range of governance roles.
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And last but not least, our own moderator for this afternoon is UTS industry Professor John Lyndon, who is also Co chair of the Australian Climate Leaders Coalition, member of the NSW Net Zero and Clean Economy Board and chair of Generation Australia.
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Previously, John was Managing Partner of McKinsey Australia in New Zealand, holding several senior roles across the global firm.
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John was also Economic Commissioners of the Greater Cities Commission from 2021 to 23.
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Thank you all again for coming along this afternoon.
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I'm sure our panel will provoke an interesting conversation and I invite you to stick along for the discussion and the following QA.
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Now, John, over to you.
6:19
Marco.
6:19
Thank you so much for that.
6:21
Welcome, and thank you all for being here.
6:24
You know, we all have roles, right?
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We have in this room many executives, we have advisors, we have policy makers, we have learners, professors, and we're all consumers.
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So by the end of this, we need to explore the opportunity we have to make a difference, an obligation, a challenge.
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What is it and what can we do?
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And how should we play our part as consumers in the fast moving system, in sustainability, climate change, and the path to a better future for all of us?
6:59
So let's kick off and I will add my respect to the traditional owners, the Gadigal people, their elders.
7:08
Maybe start with business.
7:10
That's where my comfort zone right is in a Business School.
7:13
I used to work for McKinsey.
7:15
Lots of lots of reasons to start with business and Martina.
7:18
So in the Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience, you work with lots of businesses and that's actually maybe this is easier than we think.
7:27
What can business do to solve this problem regardless of how consumers act?
7:33
So what we are currently seeing through our research and also through our conversation with our industry partners is that one of the biggest challenge that we are facing at the moment is really what can we do to rapidly decarbonize?
7:48
So what can be done to shift us onto this trajectory towards decarbonization and not just, you know, by the end of the century, but how can we do this so that it happens in the next three to five years, next 10 years?
8:02
How can that be accelerated?
8:04
So obviously this is a big task.
8:07
It requires a lot of changes internally.
8:11
It requires a lot of changes across society as we will also explore here to our consumption patterns, to what it is that we're doing individually as well as as a society globally as well.
8:22
So what can be done?
8:23
I think the biggest issue here is, you know, how can businesses transform quickly and also how can they embark on a decarbonization pathway that is credible, that is rapid, and that can also be achieved in a feasible time frame.
8:41
So for many businesses, that journey really starts with exploring where the big impacts are and also understanding where changes can be made in a matter that, you know, this, this is also feasible for the business to actually carry through this transition.
8:56
And ultimately, it's not just the climate crisis that we are worried about, right?
9:00
There is a lot happening.
9:01
There is biodiversity loss, there's global instability, right?
9:04
There is cost of living crisis, there's affordability issues and so on.
9:09
So I think it really comes down to identifying the key priorities for the company, for each organisation, and then to see where the biggest impact is and what can be done.
9:21
And sometimes it's small changes, right?
9:23
It's not always the big transformation that needs to happen, but sometimes it's just more changes around product design.
9:29
It's just more changes around, better finding better alternatives, better consumptions pattern and so on.
9:34
Yeah.
9:35
Well, that's encouraging, right?
9:37
Seems like we're on a good pathway with those businesses.
9:40
But of course business isn't going to stay in business if it doesn't bring consumers along.
9:45
And Catherine, working in advertising, you probably know what consumers are thinking and buying before they even know.
9:51
So, you know, what do you think consumers roles are are in all of this?
9:56
Consumer roles is a really interesting topic and it can be quite convenient for us to say.
10:02
It's a great amount of cognitive dissonance.
10:04
People are being lazy.
10:05
They're saying one thing and doing another thing, but we can often look at why are people consuming?
10:11
Because let's face it, we're consuming more than ever, and it's accelerating instead of D, instead of slowing down.
10:18
So let's look at why, and there's three main factors that really come to mind.
10:22
There's the fact that we're living in a sense of perma crisis, whether it is climate events, whether it's economic instability, geopolitical insecurity, the constant threat of tech and AI.
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The world is rolling into this sense of what's coming next.
10:40
And within this, people look at what they can control.
10:43
For some people, that means that they're cutting back.
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For others, 29% of Aussies, they're now doing something called doom spending, where they're looking at how can I inject a sense of meaning, of pleasure, of distraction into the world that is increasingly feeling out of control.
10:59
The second factor is a sense of economic stress.
11:04
And when will that end?
11:06
When you think of it, there's 974,000 Aussies that work more than one job, 72% of Aussies feel pessimistic about their financial future and 70% of young Australians don't think home ownership is in within their reach.
11:21
And so when I don't have access to some of the big goals and long term plans that I could make, there's trade offs in terms of shorter term, shorter term things that I can look at that I, I then feel that I have access to.
11:37
And reflecting this, half of Aussies are living in the present.
11:40
When we say you living for the present or are you planning for the future?
11:43
Half of them are just living in the, in the present.
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They're not even doing a little bit of both.
11:48
And the third factor is the relentless pressure we're under culturally to have more, spend more, be more.
11:56
We talk about, you know, once Aussies were worried about keeping up with the Joneses, we're worried about keeping up with the Kardashians.
12:03
It is a highly, you know, it's a highly unrealistic standard where the benchmarks are always just out of reach.
12:12
And so we can really criticise consumers.
12:15
But if you look at it, if you look at all of this pressure that they're under and all of the wider factors, you can understand why we're increasingly spending.
12:24
And so we potentially need to take another view because we know that businesses will always look at growth.
12:30
And on the flip side of that, we do need to look at how we're sustainably doing things.
12:36
But just to tell people spend less, consume better within this context just won't cut it.
12:42
Wow.
12:43
I don't like that geopolitical climate, economic technology feel like I want to go out and do some of that doom spending myself.
12:51
But I mean, Nikki, you've worked in consumer businesses.
12:55
I mean, are you are you businesses and ones you're aware of connecting with these consumers and maybe offering them a way out of this problem?
13:04
Yeah, Look, it's it's a big challenge.
13:06
I like to think of it like this.
13:08
Yeah.
13:08
There were, there was a time in business, in society where you could it was almost like an elephant trampling through the jungle.
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You could see it coming.
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You could plan for it.
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You had some time to digest how you were going to react.
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And now it's like standing in an ocean with lots of little black jellyfish that you can't see.
13:27
So you're being attacked from from all angles as an individual, as a business, as a nation state.
13:33
You know, it feels like there's a lot going on.
13:35
So it's complicated.
13:37
And look, I think in business right now, there is a inevitable challenge in how do you do the right thing for the environment, the right thing to contribute to a more socially equitable community and simultaneously deliver the financial and fiduciary obligations that you also need to deliver.
13:58
And right now, I think we're at a point in time where we're going to see three things really play out.
14:05
One is conviction.
14:07
What companies are going to just make a choice, that this is not just the right thing to do because there's regulations, but there's the right thing to do because we have an obligation and can make some change.
14:19
And we're seeing many companies opting out or certainly reducing their focus.
14:24
I think it is hugely complex.
14:27
So to sort of say that there are easy solutions is somewhat naive.
14:31
But as an organisation, I think it's critically important to work out for the people that you serve, for your consumers, what matters to the most and what can you focus your energies on.
14:42
Because you can't do everything and not everything is equal.
14:45
And I think finding competitive advantage in organisation is around how you can deliver profit as well as purpose.
14:51
So being profit, you know, being purpose LED doesn't mean being profit deprived, but it does mean being super sharp around where you find competitive advantage for your business, but also for the people that you serve.
15:04
And then I think the last areas around change is helping organisations sort of overcome change fatigue to make really difficult decisions around how you decarbonize, how you reduce plastics, how you leverage AI whilst not creating a huge groundswell of energy consumption.
15:23
You know, there these are a complex scenario.
15:26
So I think we have to listen to consumers, understand what matters to the most and recognise that you need to produce products and services that don't cost the earth, that don't negatively impact our environment.
15:38
But equally consumers shouldn't have to pay more for better produced products.
15:43
As a business we need to find ways of removing non value added cost in the system of which there are plenty in organisations such that we can invest on those things that actually do contribute to a better, better world for our consumers and the planet.
16:00
So that sounds appealing right?
16:02
Some sort of magic pudding where we've got better products for the planet, but they also don't cost the Earth the hip pocket either.
16:09
Now Siobhan, you've been a banker for a long time.
16:12
I'm used to you taking a bit of a hard look at claims like oh it can be cheaper and better.
16:17
What do you reckon?
16:18
Is there any truth in that?
16:21
Ultimately someone has to pay and in fact we're all paying at the moment and the Earth is certainly paying for it at the moment too.
16:28
So there is this challenge around who ends up actually paying and should we be expecting the consumer to pay more for a product that's got some green attributes.
16:37
I think it's really fascinating when we reflect on kind of where the sustainability movement has been and over the last 20-30 years.
16:42
You know, going back to, you know, the Rio Convention, sort of when we started to 1st talk about sustainable development and if it was the big ambition that we spoke about.
16:52
And then we started to think about, you know, the degree of integration.
16:55
And we started to think about in banking, we might be thinking about sustainability linked to loans, where we might be incentivising a customer to make decisions around delivering a more sustainable product or a service.
17:07
But now we're getting to a phase now where it's about actually how do we transform?
17:10
How do we actually transform an organisation or how does a banker work with a client that they're lending to?
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And actually ensuring that that organisation that they're working with is actually making different kinds of decisions around how they are delivering a more sustainable product or service.
17:28
And rather than simply giving them a loan to to incentivize them actually really thinking about how they tailor their support for that particular client as well.
17:35
When I think about when it comes to consumers, my sense is that we've actually got to think about how do we retool products and services so that they are fundamentally more sustainable rather than simply kind of, if you like, applying the green to them and then charging more.
17:47
Now that takes time.
17:48
It's not easy, but it does require a transformation mindset that we need to bring to these kinds of problems.
17:55
It also means that we've got to break out of the silo of thinking within our own organisations to actually how do we think about our value chains.
18:02
So as a bank, how does it work with it's client, how is it working with it's suppliers and how do we work through those value chains to find ways to actually work through better solutions?
18:11
Now it sounds easy to say, but actually delivering on that is actually really, really hard and requires different kinds of mindsets.
18:18
And I've been fascinated in banking in that as a sector it's deeply competitive and everyone used to want to be the most sustainable bank.
18:26
You know, there were indices and still are out there that rates the performance of organisations and everyone wanted to be the most sustainable organisation.
18:35
But the shift that's happened over the last five years is actually it's the leaders.
18:40
The leaders are those who are more willing to share, to lift up the hood and actually say this is how we're thinking about this problem.
18:46
That's bigger than my organisation and being willing to collaborate within their industry and beyond their industry to crack through some of these really intransible, intractable problems to try and find solutions.
18:58
And I do think we've got to recalibrate what we mean by leadership.
19:01
That's super interesting, right, that this is not something we just do on our own, but we have to do it with others and acting together to magnify the impact.
19:12
I mean, I'm just simplistic thinker here, but wouldn't, wouldn't this be all lot easier if we just had a carbon tax to send those signals?
19:21
Oh, I'm, I'm all for market based mechanisms, as you know, being the banker.
19:26
I mean, I do sometimes think that having a system that's well designed where there's a degree of fairness and we're not picking winners, that the market is actually building in that price on carbon is a way to, I guess, accelerate some of these solutions.
19:46
It is hard in an environment where we don't have these financial mechanisms.
19:50
We are sometimes in that position of having to pick winners and it can take longer to drive those changes.
19:56
Martina, I mean, you come from Europe, which is I think a little more advanced sometimes in the way we make choices there.
20:03
Is that because of market based mechanisms like taxes or is it something more cultural too?
20:10
I think the cultural elements are definitely playing into this.
20:14
So, for instance, you know, just thinking back over some of the recent history and developments in Europe when it comes to, you know, support for environmental policies.
20:25
You know, there has been a huge environmental movement, but that just didn't come out of nowhere.
20:31
That came out of a time when people were really seeing the environmental degradation happening resulting from the rapid industrialization after the Second World War.
20:41
So there's definitely also culturally been a sense around, okay, something needs to happen, so that way you can preserve our environment, right?
20:49
So that has led to, I think, greater support in general for some policies being put in.
20:54
But we certainly have got, you know, all sorts of other influences.
20:58
I'm contributing that as well.
21:01
And we probably don't have the time to really dive deep into the, the cultural factors here.
21:06
But overall, I would say that that does play a role, right?
21:09
There has been a greater involvement as well of, you know, this, this sort of like sustainability movement in, in politics as well.
21:18
And to some degree, yes, it has been, you know, the, the Greens being involved in, in some of the policy in Germany to a greater extent.
21:27
But ultimately it's not just come down to one party.
21:31
It's actually, you know, across the board where we see good level policy support.
21:35
And that I think really helps as well as the overall momentum of many of the policies that we are seeing because they're not just tied to one party and that party having a particular view on it.
21:47
But there is actually some support, I think across the political spectrum to make sure that, you know, we all live in a healthy, sustainable environment, that there is a greater uptake of renewables, you know, the energy transition and that that started many, many years ago, right?
22:04
So Europe has already been transitioning for probably 30-40 years, right?
22:08
And that shows you it's, it's also not a quick fix, right?
22:11
And I think really show us that we need to act and need to act quickly as well.
22:17
So in terms of acting quickly, it also doesn't seem particularly likely.
22:22
We can wait for politicians to all get lined up and build that broad consensus here right now.
22:28
If that's a fact, what, what can we do?
22:30
What can consumers do, communities do to start making a difference, saying Catherine, Nikki, you all close close to communities.
22:39
So what do you think?
22:41
I think who pays the price is an interesting one.
22:44
In the good study that we do in partnership with UTS, we did want to know drivers of consideration and consumers essentially want something that is priced well, that is good quality and meets the need of the category that they're buying into.
22:59
If you take out one of those elements and say, hey, why don't you pay double for a green product that doesn't quite meet your need, they won't do it.
23:07
And 83% of Australian consumers currently think that environmental and sustainable products are overpriced.
23:13
So from a marketer's perspective perspective or a business perspective, there's still a job to do.
23:19
In terms of the value equation for consumers.
23:22
We work with Suncorp Insurance and they operate in Queensland, which is one of the most climate impacted places in the country, if not the world.
23:31
And when we looked at it, we could say that 97% of spending was done around recovery, around cleaning up after a major event has had been had happened and only 3% went towards prevention.
23:46
And so we worked with the organisation.
23:48
To your point Siobhan, it wasn't something that just sat and lived in marketing.
23:52
It involved every element of the organisation.
23:55
And to your point, it's long term.
23:57
So this has been a five year strategy that has been in play where we wanted to shift the focus of the whole organisation and oriented around resilience.
24:07
And so resilience has been something that has created new ways to look at policy, new products that they can bring to market.
24:13
We created a climate proof house and made that an open source in information for consumers.
24:21
And so I think when we're looking at how can we address some of those issues, it also goes to your point, Nikki, in that we can go back to the business and say things like this have increased market share.
24:31
They now have #1 market share in QLD.
24:34
It has justified a price premium in an industry that is highly competitive and where prices prices really, really scrutinised.
24:46
And it has also changed that industry shift.
24:49
So when we look at the 97, it's, it's more around the 90% now.
24:53
But they've not done it on their own.
24:55
They've Co opted everyone possible within the organisation, within the industry, with government and instead of looking at messages of fear and loss aversion, it's looking at the opportunity that can that can come into play.
25:09
Their vision was how can we get all of Queensland on that road to resilience?
25:13
And that's a really motivating collective idea that everyone can do that again, takes those little steps instead of just pushing for for shoving, for for really big change.
25:26
Love that example.
25:27
Nikki, have you seen anything good with sort of cooperation and consumers leading the change?
25:33
Yeah, definitely.
25:34
I oh, I think it's, you know, whether it's that that coalition of the willing, able, passionate is, is essential in so many different guises.
25:42
You know, it can be industry coming together in a pre competitive fashion and partnering with government.
25:48
I think the Climate leaders coalition is a really great example of that where, you know, to the point around sort of lifting the floor and raising the ceiling.
25:56
How much can you just share based on the journey that you've had to date?
26:00
Because otherwise we're all relearning to solve for the same problems by and large.
26:05
So I think that's a really good example, you know, within an organisation and I'll, I'll use Unilever as the most recent one for me.
26:12
But you know, we reached 3.5 billion people every single day across, you know, hundreds of countries in the world.
26:20
There is a lot of knowledge there and we have a lot of impact with suppliers through that value chain.
26:25
So, you know, we partner with suppliers to say, are you on the journey with us?
26:30
If you are, then then let's collaborate.
26:32
If you want to be but you're not sure how to be, then let's learn from each other.
26:37
And only those that really are like disinterested in it do we sort of part ways with.
26:42
But I think it is sharing that knowledge very graciously.
26:45
And the last thing I would say is, is ask for help.
26:48
Like we have to get better at actually being much more vulnerable in this space because otherwise it's honestly paralysing.
26:54
I don't think why I speak for myself.
26:57
You know, when, when I took over as CEO of Unilever ANZ during COVID, we set ourselves an audacious goal to become a certified B Corporation, which for some of you may or may know what AB Corp is, but it's largely been the domain of much smaller companies.
27:14
And why we were passionate to do it was in large part because it gave us an independent, external, structured way of having a look at how we were going to be imminently more value creating in the way that we did things as a business.
27:32
And it was hugely scary, period, right?
27:35
Because all of a sudden you're opening up your organisation to somebody else and learning what you're good at.
27:41
And there were plenty of things we could be proud of and plenty of things that I thought, Oh my gosh, we are further behind than we thought we were.
27:50
And now, you know, you need to do something about it.
27:53
It took us 2 years to become one of the world's biggest subsidiary multinational B Corps.
28:02
And the only way we could do that was to ask for help was to take the experience that we had in our business and share it with others.
28:09
But to say, actually, I'm not sure how to fix this, but I know I need to.
28:14
Can you help me and invite people in?
28:16
And that was really rewarding, but a different way of delivering outcomes in a corporate context.
28:24
So, yeah, take some vulnerability and some leadership, doesn't it, to do that.
28:28
And so a couple of good examples there of businesses leading the way an industry is leading, being open to collaborate and ask for help.
28:35
I mean, I know Siobhan, you believe in play space change.
28:38
I mean, what's some examples or some ideas where communities can really take the lead?
28:43
Yeah.
28:43
I think it's such an interesting time in that that the world can feel right now, you know, there's just geopolitical instability.
28:50
We've talked about that and that sense of fear that people might have in relation to that and that sense of distrust.
28:56
I wonder if now is the time to actually focus more around our local communities, regions that we live and work in, and actually find new ways to collaborate in that local place where we can actually remake relationships and agreements and actually nut out problems in relation to that place and where we live and work.
29:13
And I look at examples like what's happened down in Bega, a focus around the circular economy you've got there, the cheese making dairy business that's collaborated with local government, state government, but also farmers in that community as well.
29:27
And what they've built really is a way in which they they support each other.
29:31
There's this kind of mutual relationships around how they're driving the, the economy of that particular region and building, you know, to the word that you use a resilience within that place as well.
29:41
And I think this kind of thinking is going to be really important because, you know, we've got challenges like how do we deliver renewables, poles and wires and to transmission in in remote and regional communities where there's a real sense of distrust in communities saying, no, we don't want that infrastructure to come through our community.
29:56
Can we actually work through this in a different way and bring and convene communities with business, with politicians to actually work through what are the Co benefits?
30:05
How can we deal with some of the complexity?
30:07
There might be some negatives, but are there some positives that we can realise here as well?
30:11
And how can everyone share in the benefits, the Co benefits of these solutions as well?
30:16
I look at some of the work that's being done at the moment in relation to nature and the way in which First Nations communities are looking at how they repair nature and that they're doing that in place and how they're actually able to to gain benefits through that.
30:29
I think we've got to listen and learn from some of the work that they're doing in terms of how we can think about sustainability in place and demonstrate what's possible and then share that with other communities.
30:39
And that's maybe the way that we can scale at a time where it feels playing at a global level is quite challenging.
30:46
And that doesn't have to be huge change, does it?
30:48
That can, that can start with something small.
30:50
Start in your neighbourhood.
30:52
I mean, I just think in my little neighbourhood where community gardening has just taken off, not just because we've found a piece of land, but actually in the laneways and how can we grow food?
30:59
It means that because we were growing plants and in our laneways that when COVID came along, we all knew each other already.
31:06
So then we could just flip the ability to then talk to each other on WhatsApp and look after each other.
31:11
But if it wasn't for the work they'd been doing about planning out our laneways, we wouldn't have known each other.
31:15
So little things are quite, quite amazing and can be helpful at times of of of crisis too.
31:22
Yeah, alright.
31:23
Well, soon we're going to open up for questions from the audience.
31:27
And while we can do that the traditional way, there's also some high tech way of doing it with a QR code, which is elusive to me but might be up on a screen soon.
31:36
But it's OK if it isn't because I can just use the cover of a missing QR code to ask the hard questions I really want to ask and pretend they come from the audience.
31:44
So we'll see how we're doing there.
31:46
Meanwhile, I, I just would love the panels response to something I read this morning, which is a very well intentioned scheme for tax breaks on new EVs that, you know, maybe many of us here have taken advantage of that.
32:02
But it ends up costing a few $100 million more than the government thought money which has to come out of whether that's our taxes or out of schools or hospitals I suppose.
32:13
Is this fair?
32:14
Is it fair that sort of rich EV owners get subsidised by people who may not even have a house they could charge an EV at?
32:21
What do you reckon what we see currently coming through our research and we've done an extensive work understanding, you know, what's happening in terms of solar uptake, EV uptake and so on.
32:34
That the incentives that are currently in place are not always designed that we really support an equitable transition to a renewable energy future.
32:45
The biggest problem is that many incentives are designed in a way that they reach people who have already made decisions to purchase certain renewable products, right?
32:54
So for instance, we see that with EB subsidies, not just in Australia, but globally as well.
32:59
So probably about 60 to to 70% of the incentives go to paper who have already decided on the purchase of an EV and would potentially be able to afford this without any type of incentive, right.
33:12
So it does create, yeah, it's definitely a distortion, but also a challenge for people who are not in a category where they can easily afford these types of investments, you know, to really join in on the energy transition.
33:29
And for those of you who've been following our media releases and our research as well, you'll see one of the message that we've been putting out there is that more needs to be done to really support an equitable transition to a renewable future.
33:43
Also through well designed policy mechanisms.
33:46
They're definitely great means to support the energy transition, but they need to be designed in a way that it reaches all parts of society and not just certain segments where we have already got purchase intention.
34:00
If I can build on that from a brand perspective, when you're looking at growing a business or a brand, you want to make your message appeal to as many people as as possible.
34:11
And what could be problematic around focusing purely on incentives is that you'll attract people who already are kind of interested.
34:20
And at at a certain point, the brands will reach a plateau in terms of interest.
34:25
And then they'll need to look again at what their strategy is to then further fuel growth.
34:30
So even, you know, the laws of brand growth support that, you know, instead of purely looking at policy, there potentially should have been work at a mass brand level that appealed to the to, you know, everyone possible.
34:45
You know, there's lots of vehicle buyers in Australia, but then I guess there was issues around infrastructure and things like that, which you know, are outside of the realm of brand.
34:55
But essentially from a brand perspective, you can see why incentives can only work so far.
35:00
They should have really gone further to really fuel growth and and desire desirability of a VS over over current models.
35:09
It's interesting, like sometimes I feel like an incentive is needed at the beginning just to kind of move something forward to, to kind of place it in the minds of consumers, give it some visibility.
35:19
But you've got to be smart enough and willing and courageous enough to then switch it off as well.
35:24
And I think it's also who are you delivering your message to as well.
35:26
So, you know, solar panels in some parts of Australia can seem like a, you know, a potentially analytics thing to have.
35:32
But I'm going visiting my sister in Dubbo and I said to her, wow, you know, I didn't realise that double was so engaged around sustainability.
35:39
Every house has got solar on here.
35:41
She said, no, we've just got really high radiance.
35:44
You're just stupid if you don't have soul on your roof.
35:46
And so I realised that actually the kind of the community message was very different in that part of Australia.
35:51
Maybe just one final point as well.
35:53
I think some of this stuff illustrates the complexity, but also like beware the whack a mole effect.
35:58
Sometimes we make a decision in one area without necessarily thinking about the impacts in others.
36:04
So we want to reduce plastics in the supply chain, which makes a lot of sense.
36:09
The impact of that can be an increase in food waste if we're not careful.
36:13
So you've sort of got to play it forward.
36:15
We want to incentivize electric vehicles.
36:17
Have we played forward enough the requisite infrastructure to enable that to be really successful?
36:23
What happens when those batteries die?
36:24
I mean, in the UK, they're writing off cars quite quickly because it's cheaper to write off an entire vehicle than it is to replace a battery.
36:32
So I just think all of these are the require systems thinking they can't just be myopically made decisions, which unfortunately happens at times when they're politicised or when we're reacting.
36:48
That's really interesting.
36:49
I think we've also got a responsibility to also make it simple for the consumer.
36:52
Like we shouldn't be expecting the consumer to say, well, you know, where did these critical minerals come from that went into this?
36:56
I agree totally.
36:57
No, I'm with you.
36:58
I think stories well told and when we were living in a world of massive misinformation, it's hard to know where truth lies.
37:05
So I absolutely agree with that.
37:08
I don't have an easy answer to that one, but but I think there's a lot of truth in that.
37:12
Yeah.
37:12
I mean, is there a role for better, you know, disclosures and reporting in that in, in knowing where things come from and just meeting standards or does that make it even more complicated?
37:23
Oh, disclosures.
37:25
It's, I mean, for those of you who are in business, you know, it's a big thing.
37:28
And I think reporting is really important because we've got to have the data, but we've got to make sure that we just don't end up in a world of reporting and actually lose sight of actually what we're trying to achieve.
37:38
Disclosures are really important and we know that there's been a huge focus around green washing and the flip around green hashing.
37:44
I think it's really important that we're giving consumers the information that they ought to have so they know that they're buying something that actually says what it is.
37:52
They can be confident around the impact of that product and also where the materials have come from.
37:57
And they can feel good that there's been responsible decisions made in getting that product to them.
38:02
But yeah, I, I think governments have got a role playing to ensure that materials producers or product producers are doing that kind of work.
38:09
But Nikki, you'd be, you'd know much more about that.
38:13
I know about that.
38:13
But I look, I think anything that holds people accountable and brings transparency is really important.
38:19
I think the challenge is when there's, when we rely on things like regulations, disclosures, reporting to give a sense of purposefulness.
38:31
I think we can keep organisations incredibly busy, but not actually fundamentally shifting the needle on what needs to be done.
38:38
So I think you know that, yes.
38:41
I do think it's important though that there is a degree, a high degree of accountability.
38:45
Yeah, it would would be nice for the world to make that a bit easier than, you know, wanting a new phone and having to go to the sustainability and climate report of Telstra and Optus and Vodafone or something.
38:56
At least nobody ever has done, I'm sure.
38:58
I mean, maybe this audience has, but how can we make it easy?
39:02
And so the code is up.
39:03
Would love you to think of questions you'd like to ask.
39:07
We had one over there, one here from the floor, but just add them on the QR if you have any more.
39:14
Let's go to you at the thank you first.
39:17
Oh, is that the right one?
39:19
No, you're now the right one and this we're adaptable here.
39:22
And then one even further at the back.
39:24
Great.
39:25
Thanks, John and everyone.
39:26
I think it's fair to say we're seeing we're facing some headwinds in the sustainability agenda this year and a bit of backlash against, you know, ESG or work agenda or whatever people want to call it.
39:36
Do you think we need to change tack on how we're cutting through to consumers, people, voters?
39:42
Yeah, what's what's the cut through message?
39:45
Hey, let's ask someone from advertising.
39:48
Hi.
39:50
Look, we know that Australians do want businesses and brands to do good.
39:54
96% of them say that they do and 77% say that they believe in back environmental good when it comes to this.
40:03
I think the, I think we do need to change tack because of all of the things that we've been talking about in terms of economic pressures around other things that are playing on people's minds and, and the, you know, the panel's right, we're cognitive misers.
40:17
We not out of it, you know, not out of laziness, but purely out of our brain trying to be as efficient as possible.
40:25
And I think, you know, making a simple motivating collective message that is full of hope could be a really interesting tack to take.
40:35
You know, we're bombarded with messages of despondency and we know that Australians are really hungry for a narrative that is hopeful, doesn't need to be big hope.
40:46
It can be small bits of hope that can unify us together.
40:49
And it feels like this is a topic that has the potential to do that and to wash away the, you know, how it's been politicised and bring it back to things that we love, like we love the land, we love our mates, we love the places that we go to.
41:05
I think we could lean into a little bit more of the advertising and brand tactics of making things emotional, making it motivating, making it resonant to really build traction instead of just slapping people with reports and numbers, which as a strategist, I know a good graph can be quite appealing, but it can never it, it will never make someone put down 1 product and pick up a more sustainable 1.
41:32
I think it's about knowing your audience too.
41:34
So I think yes, when it comes to consumer, this idea about place and hope is really important.
41:39
But when I think about finance, I think it's about going back to the fundamentals around risk.
41:43
So you know, credit risk in banking, you know, if you're going to lend to that customer, do you know that you're going to get your money back?
41:49
Or is that service or product going to be a problem a little further down the track?
41:52
So, and I think that's what I'm seeing, while globally we're seeing retreat from things like the net zero banking alliance, in some parts of the world, I know that those banks are still getting on with their net zero agenda because they know it's just risk if they don't.
42:04
Yeah, and and to that point as well, that's why we built the study because we found lots of brands were coming to us saying we want to do something, but we're not sure what to do because there's so many options and you do one thing for one cohort and it really gets you offside with another.
42:19
And so that's why we created the data set we have, so we can become more surgical and more strategic around the purpose of a a business and a brand, what they want to achieve and the audiences they can go after for growth to make sure that they get good ROI from their investment as well.
42:39
So there are ways to cut through.
42:41
Now let's turn to the question at the back.
42:43
And then I think we had some one at the yeah, middle of your right.
42:47
Firstly, I just want to say thank you for your insights and sharing your experience.
42:51
My question was around, it was mentioned earlier around an equitable transition and that policy was a key driver for that or way to kind of solve for that where there is no policy and appreciating that Europe are further ahead than us.
43:05
Have you seen any effective ways that organisations, business or community have contributed towards equitable transition?
43:14
I don't know, donating excess solar or you know, what have you seen that's been really good?
43:21
There are definitely ways to design subsidies, for instance, in a way that they take into consideration, you know, equity that people have got, income that people have got, right.
43:35
So there are ways to factor that into policy decisions, for instance around subsidising solar panels or subsidising EV uptake.
43:44
So in some instances it just really comes down to just fine tuning the policies that we've got to make sure that they are not just essentially reaching paper.
43:55
As I said before, we've already made or committed to decisions to purchase a certain product, a certain service and who've already got the money to do so, right.
44:03
So ideally in this, you know, in the ideal scenario, we would want to support people who are really in need and can't afford, you know, can't afford solar, can't afford an electric vehicle, for instance, or can't really afford different more sustainable ways of transportation or switches to to different ways of energy.
44:25
So ultimately some the I think the policies that we've got it just sometimes just need that fine tuning around, you know, what element of society do we really want to reach.
44:36
Then I think there's a different pace and that ties in with the play space discussion that we had is definitely also around the design of the community and the infrastructure that we do have in place, right.
44:47
So just looking around Sydney, there are some areas where it's just plain dangerous to ride your bicycle, right?
44:54
So when you just want to go from A to B, there are some areas here where you just, you just can't make this happen without putting yourself in substantial danger, right?
45:03
So I'm just thinking parts of the North Shore where there's just absolutely no, no bicycle infrastructure in place, right?
45:09
And if you want to go somewhere along the Pacific Highway, you're probably going to be taken out by the nearest truck, right?
45:15
There are definitely other parts here where we see that already happening.
45:18
But then when you look over to Europe, right?
45:20
And we've got, you know, countries in Netherlands is a great example, right?
45:23
There is bike infrastructure everywhere.
45:26
And it's actually, you know, instead of like sitting in traffic jam on a, you know, Friday afternoon, you'd actually almost be in a bicycle jam because everyone is out and about and, you know, riding their bike.
45:37
And it's actually giving a really good sense of community of, you know, being tied in with activities.
45:43
You know, you've actually got real enjoyment around that as well.
45:46
So, you know, it really comes down to, I think these types of considerations as well, how we can plan for this sustainable future to happen and how it can be made accessible to wide part of the population as well.
46:00
Yeah.
46:02
Any other thoughts on that one?
46:05
I mean, I kind of building on the example I gave before around that place based approach.
46:09
I think it's more about, I haven't seen some good examples of this yet, but I think in time how communities can actually have equity in some of these projects.
46:18
So whether it's around renewable energy or energy infrastructure in communities or around First Nations, when they're working with business, where business is operating on their land rather than simply paying them a fee, actually giving them equity.
46:31
So they've got a long term income stream in relation to that outcome and actually brokering, going through that, that solution, Co designing and then delivering a Co benefit.
46:40
I think we're going to have to work through these different models of equity to deliver these outcomes.
46:45
And sometimes I think it comes down to just really small scale solutions as well, right?
46:49
Going back to Europe as an example, one thing that we've seen rolled out on a very large scale is balcony solar.
46:56
So you can just get really small solar panels to put right onto your balcony, the outside of your balcony, or if that's not suitable, you know, onto the balcony and ultimately helps you to generate your own renewable energy.
47:09
These panels are very inexpensive.
47:12
Some of them are subsidised as well, right?
47:14
It's accessible for everyone.
47:15
But again, here it's something that we simply don't have access to, right?
47:19
Could be rolled out relatively easily, would definitely require political will, some changes, you know, to to building codes and so on.
47:26
But it's it's doable, right?
47:28
Yeah, actually we're seeing distributed energy solutions being piloted down now and through all at the moment.
47:32
And I think we'll see a lot more of that as well.
47:35
I think it's a really important point, right?
47:37
Because we're all in the city where things may be a little bit easier and we're excited about Climate Action Week.
47:43
But somewhere in the Bush there are communities that say, Oh no, not a climate Action Week in Sydney.
47:49
That'll mean more turbines and solar panels and transmission lines and we'll get nothing out of it.
47:55
And maybe now the coal plant will close and we'll lose our job or whatever.
47:58
So we need to think about them.
48:00
It's not quite Bush fire release, Beverly, but actually these communities are affected the transition in a slow and and gradual way, right?
48:08
We got 1 here and then a couple on that side.
48:14
My questions for Catherine please.
48:17
So in the market research that you have access to, do you see different patterns amongst their youngest cohorts?
48:23
So in simple English, are they worried enough to actually make different purchasing decisions?
48:29
There's really interesting patterns between younger and older cohorts of Australians.
48:35
We're finding younger Australians are more incentivized by more individualistic kind of benefits, potentially because they've been burnt by older generations promising a lot and not delivering.
48:49
But yeah, it there's, there's different messages.
48:51
I what we also found was we asked Australians, do you think brands should get political, for instance, and yoga, younger cohorts were much more inclined to say yes versus older cohorts.
49:05
So we found that the general population were very much opposed to brands getting political.
49:11
You know, 63% said no thank you, You know, please stick to your lane.
49:17
But younger cohorts, we're far more inclined to take, I guess, bolder steps.
49:24
And if you show what it's in, what's in it for them personally, that seems to be something that would resonate as well.
49:31
But yeah, there are, there are differences, some real contradictions as well, right.
49:36
So whilst they they are definitely the most positively disposed to wanting to sort of be activists in this space, they're also strongly confronted with cost of living more than anyone else.
49:52
And we see the rise of brands like Shine and Teemu, which are very disposable, You know, the fastest of fast fashion, which is being all once or twice and you know, you can't get a dress for $6 and not wonder how it's been made, you know it.
50:09
So the amount of water to make one T shirt is high, you know, these things.
50:13
But there, there's no easy solution to that, right?
50:16
Because we are living in a world of absolute paradox at the moment.
50:20
And to simplify that, we try to be binary, right?
50:23
You have to be 1 or the other.
50:24
But we we have got to find ways of combining values with value, I guess and being able to to do both well.
50:33
But that that's that takes a lot more time, energy and effort, but would be imminently more rewarding if we can get there.
50:38
Yeah, absolutely.
50:40
Now we had you guys gentleman just here one at the back and then you so three more questions.
50:45
Take your time.
50:46
There's AP word that's been alluded to several times in the conversation.
50:52
And it seems to me that big change in this space relies on a three legged stool of the consumer, business and the politicians.
51:03
And heaven forbid, but we might be having an election this year in which a government gets in that's not 1,000,000 miles away from an orange person elsewhere in terms of their climate friendliness.
51:18
Is it enough for consumers and business to work hard on this when there fundamentally isn't a government framework that's going ahead and that we can rely on, which can change the infrastructure, which can incentivize, which can provide the the support that we need to, to encourage people to move in this direction and to change the balance in the consumer space where yes, people people are put off buying greener, more sustainable goods because of the price.
52:01
So do we need that policy as well?
52:05
I think what we see coming through the research is definitely that we see more action happening in jurisdictions where we have supporting policies in place, right?
52:18
There's absolutely no doubt about it.
52:21
It's, it's creating incentives for businesses to decarbonise more rapidly if a carbon tax or an emission trading scheme is in place, right.
52:30
But on the other hand as well, and that's one of our findings as well coming up from, from, from one of our studies, there is actually a huge upside for companies to still keep investing in renewables and also in in other related technologies simply because there is good money to be made.
52:49
That is a good business case here as well.
52:51
Now I'm a little bit, you know, hesitant to just rely on market mechanisms to get us there.
52:57
But what from what we see, right, the commercialisation of cleantech patents could potentially get us up to $21 trillion, you know, by 2050.
53:06
So it's, it's a very significant number.
53:09
And I think a lot of companies have already discovered that there is a really, really good business case.
53:14
It reduces risk if it's done properly, it can really help to engage consumers in the sustainability journey.
53:21
But certainly also the commercialization of these new technologies is really, I think, you know, providing also a huge business opportunity in itself.
53:29
And I'd add to that, I mean, while we might say that some investors are perhaps a little less engaged around climate performance at the moment, they're still seeking out that that value or that alpha.
53:39
And actually ultimately, often it is about some of these sustainability fundamentals that ladder up into that alpha as well.
53:44
So investors and and you know, I'm sorry, I will say the market does have a really important role to play here.
53:50
And the market is often hunting for those climate solutions as well as nature based and good human rights performance as well, because they're indicators of good management.
53:59
Yeah, if I could just say, well, I think you're only as strong as your weakest link.
54:03
So you we absolutely need all parties to step up.
54:06
I mean, look how quickly the market has responded to the policies that have been placed in the US for perhaps different reasons.
54:16
But, you know, you start to really see conviction and policy in action for the perhaps the wrong reasons.
54:24
But I think you see the power of all that.
54:26
So strong is your weakest link.
54:28
We need everybody to step up.
54:29
That's difficult moments.
54:30
You see who the real leaders are, too.
54:32
Absolutely.
54:32
Absolutely.
54:33
That's what I mean about conviction.
54:34
Yeah.
54:35
Yeah.
54:35
And we're all consumers, but we're also voters.
54:38
And we can beat leaders in our communities, right?
54:41
So we've all got a role there.
54:43
Gentleman at the back and then here to finish.
54:45
Thank you so much, Professor.
54:47
I gave a little touch to the topic living with the disclosure and the transparency.
54:52
I would like to have with more light on that if I can, especially in perspective of like right now the regulators have already played their role by making in mandatory for the large size forms and going to be mandatory next for the medium and so on for now for the as we're talking about this equitable system.
55:13
So they obviously will be facing certain problems and they are for example, in terms of resources, in terms of forecasting future that how the climate change is going to impact them and they have to show transparency to their disclosure.
55:27
Two things I would just have a bit light on is 1 is that they need resources and Technical Support to make it, I mean possible in their disclosure.
55:39
Second is obviously we're talking about the greenwashing that they should have benefit advantage, a policy in place that encourage all of the parties to go for it.
55:49
So how the system or different parties can play role to make it possible for them.
55:54
Thank you.
55:55
So the practical parts, right and the the upsides and downsides of disclosure, yeah, OK, I might jump in here, right, Because we've we've done a lot of work on disclosure and yeah, we're certainly also seeing a lot of interest around how that's currently being implemented.
56:12
I mean, for Australia, given that this is a relatively new legislation, there's still a lot of sense making going on regarding, you know, how to do it, how best to do it.
56:22
Certainly also where to get good transparent, reliable data from.
56:26
And in conversations with various industry partners, we do see the challenges, right?
56:31
Sometimes we've got businesses in place who are solely relying on, you know, other businesses to report to them.
56:36
I think the banking sector is a big one there as well, right?
56:39
So the transparency there then relies on transparency of other people of third party, of third parties as well, right?
56:49
The supply chain for instance, so it's currently a big collective, I would like to call it collective sense making exercise.
56:56
I think here locally, at least in Australia, how to do it.
56:59
But we've also seen progress happening in other jurisdictions where this has already been introduced, where some of these teasing problems have, you know, been solved, at least to some extent.
57:10
I take your point around greenwashing.
57:12
It's definitely a big one.
57:14
And sometimes it's not so much about, you know, companies actively trying to disguise negative environmental performance.
57:20
Sometimes it just simply also comes down to a lack of awareness or understanding, you know, of where the biggest impacts are that the company is having, right.
57:31
So again, certainly comes also down to, you know, having good disclosure legislation in place and also having requirements in place to have the information audited.
57:41
But I mean, these are ultimately technicalities.
57:43
In my mind, disclosure is only as good as the underlying strategy from the company, right?
57:48
So it comes really down to what each individual businesses has in place in terms of their commitment, their transparency, their authentic desire to make a transformation, right?
58:00
Because ultimately I can publish a fancy report as well and it's having zero action, 0 impact.
58:05
But if I'm out there, if I'm taking action, if I'm identifying which products and services have the most negative impact, I'm starting now, I'm trying to face them out, right?
58:15
I'm trying to have conversations with others along the supply chain within communities.
58:20
That's ultimately the, the change we need, right?
58:23
And nothing, a little bit of change always drives a lot of change.
58:27
Look, I think disclosure is important.
58:29
We've got to be able to demonstrate the impact that we're having or not, but also it's about if we're going to say it, then we actually need to go to demonstrate that we're doing it as well.
58:37
And I do think this is compelling organisations not just do disclosures, but actually ensuring they've got the controls in place as well.
58:42
And that's really, really important.
58:45
And also this is now becoming increasing the domain of the finance departments, which is great.
58:49
So it's not about the sustainability team doing it to the business.
58:52
It's now just part of how you measure your finances.
58:54
You're managing your carbon in the same way.
58:56
And I think that's good.
58:57
We're just operationalizing it and getting on with it.
58:59
But the change piece is hard and that's where we're at right, right now.
59:03
Yeah, love that change.
59:04
And it's part of how you do business.
59:06
It's part of how we consume.
59:08
It's part of how we live our lives now.
59:10
I think we've just got time for one more, sadly.
59:13
So one of the beginning.
59:14
But if you've got other questions, just catch the panellists afterwards too.
59:18
Thank you.
59:19
Thank you so much.
59:20
And I really appreciate the nuance with which you spoke about the citizens and consumers, because that can be brushed over.
59:28
And I don't want this to be provocative.
59:29
It will sound provocative.
59:31
But for those of us in this sector who have been working for more than a decade talking about purpose and profit coexisting, it's really not happening.
59:40
We're not seeing those results in the climate numbers.
59:44
We're not seeing those results in the number of goods coming onto our shores.
59:47
So what are some like actually practical or realistic tools or ways of working with businesses to adjust their profit expectations so that you don't end up in this conversation of what we have to keep raising profits for our shareholders?
1:00:04
I I genuinely want to know what some practical or realistic conversation starters could look like.
1:00:11
Great question to end on.
1:00:12
Thank you very much for that.
1:00:14
OK, how do we get real?
1:00:15
How do we move beyond the promises that don't get delivered and start doing something that makes a difference?
1:00:22
There's a fundamental tension here and between the the need for constant growth and then the need for, you know, sustainability solutions.
1:00:33
And it's something I guess I've been thinking about a lot.
1:00:36
But one thing that comes to mind is that creativity happens with intention and there's constant tension between these two elements.
1:00:45
And when we've been able to help brands and businesses navigate this path is when we've looked at it embracing that and looking for really create and and looking for creative solutions that seek the opportunity.
1:00:59
The other thing is from a consumer lens, we've taken a lot of inspiration from nudge theory and nudge thinking.
1:01:07
Instead of going for the really big thing, like think of the Duolingos or the Numes or whatever it is and think about, you know, this is such a big thing.
1:01:16
It can feel like it's really big for consumers and lots of different organisations.
1:01:20
From a consumer lens, potentially breaking it down into these really collective, actionable, highly motivated reward at each little step could be an interesting way in for a consumer.
1:01:31
I can only see it from a consumer lens.
1:01:33
I'd be really interested in what the rest of the panel have to say from their perspective.
1:01:37
I mean, it, it's probably the biggest challenge, isn't it is, is, is reconciling that because there will be maybe few organisations and boards that would find it palatable to have a conversation around an active reduction of profit or growth, right?
1:01:51
That that's probably the reality, you know, and there's of course nuance along the spectrum there.
1:01:57
But there are two thoughts I have on this.
1:01:59
The first one is as an organisation, double down on what your core business does because you can be so distracted by the wealth of possibility and things that you should be doing.
1:02:10
But the word should is quite dangerous.
1:02:12
What what can you do that not only positively contributes to the purpose side of the agenda, but creates a competitive advantage for your organisation and therefore drives profitable growth.
1:02:24
And you have to be really choiceful, you know, if you can reduce plastics in your value chain or you can drive sustainable sourcing through regenerative agriculture and consumers see value in that and you can remove costs elsewhere so that you can offer it to consumers at a fair and reasonable price, then that's great for your business.
1:02:43
And I do, I see many businesses very distracted by other people's agenda in this space without actually saying what are the greatest impacts I can have that create competitive advantage.
1:02:54
And the second thing is, and I don't mean to sound sort of simplistic in saying this, but we got to stop starting, start finishing.
1:03:03
I think it's really important to pick one or two things and just see them through to completion because success breeds success.
1:03:11
So pick the biggest things and just get them done and be comfortable putting things on a parking lot.
1:03:18
I, I think we live in a a world and have done for a long time where in our pursuit of wanting to have absolute answers to everything, we strive for perfection and we need to be more comfortable with progress over perfection as we deliver on this path.
1:03:38
I hope that helps.
1:03:39
I think that's a terrific way to finish.
1:03:41
Thank you to all the panellists, Martina to Catherine, to Nikki, to Javon.
1:03:46
Thank you for the questions and the participation today.
1:03:53
And please do stick around.
1:03:55
There's some lunch, there's some drinks and hopefully more good conversation and enjoy the rest of Climate Action Week.
1:04:02
Thank you.
1:04:03
Thank you.
In this Climate Action Week session, hosted by the UTS Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience and UTS Business School, Australia’s leading thinkers, business leaders and researchers explore the ‘Consumption Conundrum’.
29% of Aussies are now doing something called doom spending, where they're looking at how can I inject a sense of meaning, of pleasure, of distraction into the world that is increasingly feeling out of control.
There's 974,000 Aussies that work more than one job, 72% of Aussies feel pessimistic about their financial future and 70% of young Australians don't think home ownership is in within their reach.
I think in business right now, there is a inevitable challenge in how do you do the right thing for the environment, the right thing to contribute to a more socially equitable community and
simultaneously deliver the financial and fiduciary obligations that you also need to deliver.
60 to 70% of the incentives go to people who have already decided on the purchase of an EV and would potentially be able to afford this without any type of incentive, right? So it does create a distortion...for people who are not in a category where they can easily afford these types of
investments to really join in on the energy transition.
Speakers
John Lydon, Co-Chair of Australian Climate Leaders’ Coalition, Chair of Generation Australia and Industry Professor, UTS Business School
Catherine King, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett
- Nicky Sparshott is an experienced CEO, Board Director and change agent, most recently as Global Chief of Transformation at Unilever
- Siobhan Toohill, leading sustainability advisor, including the first Chief Sustainability Officer at a major Australian bank
- Professor Martina Linnenluecke, Director, UTS Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience.
The UTS Centre for Climate Risk and Resilience aims to help businesses address the physical and transition risks bought on by climate change — developing new strategies for value creation and sustainability. Through global research impact, CCRR aims to safeguard the ecosystems and local communities in which businesses operate.
This event was hosted by the UTS Business School. If you are interested in hearing about future events, please contact business.events@uts.edu.au