Turning a brand’s sustainability ambitions into action
While a majority of Australia’s C-suite recognise the importance of sustainability, a much lower proportion of businesses have committed to concrete action in the next three years, writes Dan Pankraz, strategy partner at The Works, part of Capgemini.
Australian organisations recognise the importance of becoming truly sustainable now more than ever before. This, and an increased focus on ambitious net-zero targets and eco-initiatives set by a growing number of companies are indisputably positive trends. However, if you dig a bit deeper it’s clear there’s a gap between long-term ambitions and short-term actions. We call it the ‘Ambition vs Action Gap’. While organisations in Australia across a range of industries have acknowledged the urgency of climate change, limited action is visible on the ground as businesses have been reluctant to fundamentally reconfigure the way they work.
A recent Capgemini Research Institute global study ‘A world in balance’ found that while well over 50% of Australian executives say sustainability is on the agenda, there’s a much lower proportion of companies that have committed to concrete action in the next three years. The study surveyed 2,000 respondents in 12 countries from 668 organisations – including more than 200 Australian business executives across C-suite and director level positions.
A range of industries, including consumer products manufacturing, retail, government, utilities, telco, auto, energy, fin services and healthcare, were included.
