This is an exciting time but also one of reckoning, in so many ways.
But first the fun bits.
Passion was the key theme of the week. Not unusual in this industry – as we all know it’s packed with people who would be bored doing anything else.
We saw it in spades at the Melbourne Transition Risk masterclass – the audience rivetted to the end, loving the graphs, the presentations and, gotta say, the intense nerdiness of the content for some of the sessions.
We reckon the same enthusiasm will be there in abundance for the Sydney edition on Tuesday.
Briefings with speakers Jamie O’Reilly from AsheMorgan and Frankie Muskovic from the Investor Group on Climate Change, who will join a star studded line up of our very best industry talent, once again demonstrated how lucky this industry is.
O’Reilly will reveal the commercial drivers that underpin the sustainability and energy transition for buildings in his company. Muskovic will share insights into how the biggest investors in the country could think and act for our future.
In recent weeks she helped lead a delegation to Canberra representing institutional investors with $8 trillion in super funds and other assets under management who want to see reforms to the Safeguard Mechanism, so the energy transition can be accelerated. Because without this, those investors representing ordinary folk through their super, will be exposed to system-wide climate risk.
There’s so much energy and work behind these reports – it’s awesome. And how lucky is this industry to attract this kind of talent?
But is it luck or intelligence?
These are the people who know that everything we do needs to be aligned at all times to our existential survival – and the opportunities, if we get this right.
There’s good news to lift the spirit too
If you’ve been concerned about the power of jackboot politics to swing the opposite way on climate, check out a major report from one of the capital markets big voices, Bain & Co.
For the first time in three years, environmental concerns are on the rise, the company says.
“This year, 85 per cent of the 7500 consumers surveyed across US, UK, Italy, Brazil and Indonesia, say they are concerned about environmental sustainability, up from 79 per cent last year.”
Consumers are also living more sustainably, with nearly half are “practising more sustainable habits”.
“Consumers are willing to pay 18 per cent more for a sustainable product on average, rising to 24 per cent when it also offers a health benefit. More than half also say they shop locally more than they did before, primarily to support local businesses and strengthen security of supply.”
The kicker though is that they don’t call their choices sustainable or recognise they’re related to climate.
Rather they have made the genius connection that sustainability and climate have paybacks all round – for health, security and the hip pocket. That is, they are responding to what Paul Keating called our most effective motivator, self interest.
Health and convenience. Not exactly care for the planet and each other.
But do we care?
Whatever it is, it’s is working, surely that’s all that matters.
The built environment is winning
Another surprise from the report was that it claims that the built environment sector is doing very well.
“Investments in sustainability hit a record $2.4 trillion in 2025,” the report says. “However, 90 per cent of investment went to just three sectors – green energy, buildings and mobility.”
Check out the story with a fun graph we published earlier this week.
The reckoning
In our view, while the built environment in the countries surveyed by Bain & Co are doing well, we’re not so sure it’s the case for Australia. At the top end, sure, big corporate property owners know what they’re doing, but then again the top end of property is itself “another country”.
In the mid-tier sector there is still everything to learn and pretty well the whole road to travel.
Which is why Transition Risk was designed.
Another missing piece found by the report is – alarmingly – the transition in agriculture and manufacturing.
These sectors received just 10 per cent of investment but produce 37 per cent of emissions.
That’s our critical food security there. Plus the stuff that keeps our economy going, much of which admittedly is just landfill.
So, as we sit on the precipice calmly consuming our organic dinner cooked on renewable energy, let’s spare a thought for the rest of the planet.
