Change now or risk going extinct

An emergency or is it just change? The City of Sydney in June this year declared a climate emergency, the second state capital after Hobart. Some news media, citing scientific evidence, now also refer to an emergency rather than change in climate.

The climate system is a complex one but the fallout for business, no matter any debate over scientific estimates on the pace of change in the weather, is already being driven by consumers who see the corporate world as a platform for action.

The advertising industry is taking pressure from all neck-bending directions — clients, staff, regulators, investors, and activists — to take a leadership role on climate change.

• Brands have woken to activism and want to be seen as good global environment citizens.

• Employees, and potential employees, ask: what are you doing for the environment? Millennials especially want to know they’re working for a business that is a force for good.

• Investors are wary of those with a big carbon footprint and, by association, those who do business with them.

• Regulators are demanding risk management assessments of climate change and of the real “material” impact on business

• And activists now see the advertising industry as a collective manipulator responsible for the consumer excesses which led to carbon pollution and climate change.

Forrester, the global market research company, says: “It may not seem like it yet, but climate change is altering the world so drastically that all enterprises will need to undergo a transformation to avoid going extinct.”

The heat from climate change is a reality for the business world.

Agencies contacted by AdNews agree the industry collectively could do a lot to help raise awareness and drive action for change.

Clients

Volvo won’t deal with an advertising agency which doesn’t have similar views on the environment and climate change.

“It would be illogical of us to be with an agency that didn’t share our values,” says Nick Connor, the Managing Director of Volvo in Australia. “We expect all of our suppliers to share our values and that is also ethical behaviour. We’ve always been recognised as one of the most ethical companies in the world.” The car maker is acutely aware that its industry has also contributed to climate change.

“We can’t get away from that,” says Connor. “The fact of the matter is that the car industry has provided almost unique personal freedom over the past hundred years but the downside is that we