Key industry players gathered for Nine’s State of the Nation Sustainability virtual event on Wednesday.
The event comes after new research from Nine and leading market research company, Crowd.DNA, revealed Australians embrace brands who provide leadership on climate change.
The research showed that despite everyday Australians making changes to live more sustainably, the majority feel that as a country, we are not doing enough, and brands need to lead the way.
The event was moderated by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age executive editor Tory Maguire, with TBWA\Group Melbourne and Adelaide CEO Kimberlee Wells, Telstra CEO Jeremy Nicholas, CEO and managing director, EV Direct Luke Todd, and research director, Climate Council Dr Simon Bradshaw joining as panel members.
The panellists discussed their business’s sustainability initiatives, along with the best steps to take for businesses to make long-term sustainable change.
Nine’s director of strategy and insights Toby Boon opened the live stream and outlined the six steps for brands to focus on sustainability.
The six steps are: adopt the four key principles (honesty, transparency, accountability and integrity), leverage your platform for the community, take action as a business, not just a brand, collaborate, seek progress, not perfection and get on with it.
“Now is not a time for quiet achievers, but loud, honest, progressive direction. And consumers are looking to businesses to champion this movement,” Boon said.
An overwhelming 74% of Australians say the benefits of taking further action on climate change will outweigh the costs. But the findings also uncovered that 38% of Australians can’t name a brand or company that is actively pursuing sustainable practice.
“The research is saying ‘brands come to the table, we are ready’ but the challenge for brands is the fear of getting it wrong – we call that perfection paralysis,” said Wells.
When asked what advice businesses can give consumers looking to choose sustainable brands, EV Direct’s Todd said: “They’re waiting for that perfect moment to transition to a sustainable future, it’s more about small steps to take to get to the bigger outcome.
“If we can switch our mindset from ‘everything needs to be perfect’ before we can move on that would be good, let’s get on with it.”
Nine’s research showed Australians are united in wanting action on climate change and sustainability, with almost all saying they would think more positively of a company if they have a clear sustainability plan or business model, including 91% of Boomers, 90% of Gen X and Gen Z, and 93% of millennials.
Dr. Bradshaw said: “I think getting beyond crisis fatigue is going to be so important, it’s about breaking them down to bite-size pieces, its communication about their goals and making things feel tangible while managing how we will reach them in our lifetime.”
Nicholas added: “It’s going to take a while, but what does give me hope is a lot of companies pushing different points of view and I look at targets other businesses have and know we aren’t the only one doing it.
“I do feel like corporate is out in front of the government advocating for change, so I think there’s a huge amount of opportunity there, but I think corporate and business Australia will lead the way because that’s where the most change will happen.”
Nine’s director of partnerships, Lisa Day also took the floor to share Nine’s key initiatives in publishing to help brands educate, inspire and lead Australians on a clear path to enact change.
These initiatives include a new editorial reporting franchise in The Australian Financial Review called Carbon Challenge that will put in focus sustainability; a dedicated feature with the Money section of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age called Clean Capital that will explore all things ESG (environmental, social governance).
In addition is a podcast series Leaders for the Future from The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age, and a Please Explain sustainability series across the metro mastheads (SMH, The Age, WAToday, Brisbane Times).
The power of Nine’s cross-platform assets will be harnessed to push sustainability topics every month, with publishing content such as Explainers travelling to radio; broadcast integration and video series through Nine’s youth assets like Pedestrian.