Joel Makower who runs Trellis in the US (previously GreenBiz) and Sydney based sustainability stalwart Bruce Precious both had some views to share about the outlook for the year ahead. Meanwhile the army wants to sell some fantastic real estate in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Imagine if these sites were made over to social and affordable housing!
We spent nearly two hours in the early days of The Fifth Estate in furious chat with Joel Makower who runs GreenBiz in the US during his fabulous Verge conference in San Francisco.
One thing we remember clearly is how much Joel said he loved his work – it got him bounding out of bed every day with something exciting to work on.
We get it!
So, it was encouraging to read his social media post this week that despite the big silence from corporates on climate in the US, there’s still huge momentum for the net zero and sustainability transition.
“Concern is remarkably stable. More than half of the country still believes climate change is real, human-caused, and worth addressing.”
Only half?
Oh well, this is also the nation where a third of people believe that the world is flat.
In Australia though we’re in the habit of following the US’s lead – in sustainability at least – and nowhere is this more apparent than at the corporate level, where we hear the corporate world is in retreat from overt support for sustainability, again, and redeploying resources to accounting frameworks, (at least).
Bruce Precious of Six Capitals had a bigger view in a piece he sent us. And the outlook is not all bad. In fact some of the trends he’s noted are hugely encouraging, especially on energy.
On the positive side, he said:
- Climate related financial disclosures are mandatory for large corporates. This new compliance risk is generating a lot of noise right now, which will be sorted soon as people absorb the new requirements
- NABERS continues to expand, informing operations and supporting changes to the National Construction Code (which is bumpier than necessary)
- Renewable electricity continues rapid penetration, which, will make scope 2 emissions reporting near-immaterial in some parts of Australia, such as Tasmania, South Australia, and even Victoria around 2035, all going to plan
- Electrification is not such a dirty word, now that governments are allowed to use the term
- New connections to gas are banned, large tenants are specifying fully electric buildings, the ball is rolling
- The death spiral of urban natural gas is immediate, and scope 1 emissions decline to the residual emissions of refrigerants and rarely used generators
- Imagine: there’s a time horizon for scope 1 emissions from buildings to decline to residuals
- Upfront emissions from materials are better understood, progress is still slower than hoped but the barriers are better understood
On the negative side:
- The sceptics (directors and the C-suite) that were happy to sit quietly behind a green veneer are momentarily emboldened (the Trump effect) to be “more pragmatic”
- Anti greenwashers have shut down any claims of lower environmental impacts; lawyers now write sustainability reports and this reinforces the previous point
- The new financial reporting sustainability standards have created a new compliance regime, assurance companies are making a killing and sucking up resources (for no added value)
- We continue to fail the objective of giving corporations good reasons to invest in restoring nature (where the perfect has become the enemy of the good)
- We’re consuming cement, steel, aluminium and glass at a massive rate without robust plans for alternatives/mitigation
- We’re going around in circles on circular economy, recycling good ideas without implementing them!
Back in the US it must be hard going with the dominant noise so anti-climate.
Joelasked, “Why does it feel like the ground has collapsed?
“Because silence is contagious,” he said.
“A small but loud minority has dominated the conversation, intimidating companies into what [Professor Anthony] Leiserowitz calls a ‘spiral of climate silence’: When leaders stop talking, everyone assumes the issue no longer matters. Not because people changed their minds — but because nobody’s giving them cues.”
Take a look at this illuminating article from The Guardian on this topic, ‘Spiral of silence’: climate action is very popular, so why don’t people realise it? It delves into the psychology – and communications imperatives – of tackling climate change.
Research last year – in the worst period of anti-climate fear emanating from the White House (and maybe the cost of living crisis) – found that 89 per cent of people around the world want more to be done on climate, but most people don’t perceive that and believe momentum has faded.
This means that they lose heart and won’t commit to the same extent as if they knew the true level of support.
If the movement is not popular globally, why bother? It’s too hard, you’d be forgiven for thinking.
But if you could dispel that myth the research shows that more people would jump aboard to support greater action. Even in China!
People in China, the world’s biggest polluter, were among the most concerned, with 97 per cent saying its government should do more to fight the climate crisis and four out of five willing to give 1 per cent of their income. The world’s second biggest polluter, the US, was near the bottom, but still had three-quarters of its citizens saying its government should do more and almost half willing to contribute.
In another piece of work, a US study from 2022 found “people thought only about 40 per cent of their fellow citizens supported climate policies: the real proportion was about 75 per cent. An earlier study found the same in China.”
There are also myths about people in rich countries disinclined to support those in poor nations. Again, not true with 76 per cent of Europeans and 54 per cent of those in the US, supporting this.
So shifting perceptions could be a gamechanger, “pushing the world over a social tipping point into unstoppable climate progress”.
The reason for such confusion could well be a mix of poor opinions about the motivations of others and fossil-fuelled disinformation.
On the latter there is a brilliant article that really should be read by anyone involved in the battle for this planet. It’s based on a Senate inquiry due to report on 24 March, into the deliberate campaign to influence economics and politics through a neoliberal agenda and stop action on climate change and other issues such as the Voice to Parliament.
It’s a long and chilling read by the ABC’s Gareth Hutchens and it’s one of the best evidence backed analysis of what’s plagued our world we’ve yet to see.
But so compelling we urge you to dip your toes in and see if you can extract yourself in reasonable time.
Social and affordable housing would be a brilliant gift to the people, and productivity, in our three biggest cities
The Australian Institute of Architects said that the sell off of army properties in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is an amazing opportunity for “city-defining precincts”.
National president Adam Haddow on Thursday said the Victoria Barracks sites each have a need to be treated with “strong design governance from the outset, including early heritage assessment, meaningful community engagement, and independent design review.
“Any future redevelopment must protect heritage significance, respect Country, and deliver high-quality outcomes that Australians can be proud of.”
“Victoria Barracks are more than real estate assets, they are important parts of our civic story.”
Other voices flagged the site might also make brilliant public and genuinely affordable housing. How amazing would that be? Especially if this was carried out at scale. It would be a signal that governments around the country were listening. This is an issue that is driving some people to despair and probably responsible for a big part of rising cost of living – as rents and house prices go up and people need to scramble for higher wages.
If Productivity Commissioner Danielle Wood is so worried about flagging productivity that’s now also worrying the Reserve Bank of Australia and showing up in higher inflation, then how about looking at ways to unlock the desire to work harder, faster longer. What could be more motivational than a realistic goal to own your own home or afford the rent without it taking food off the table?
Better located housing would also be a boon. All these army properties are in brilliant central locations.