Alexa
Poortier
At times of great urgency and crisis, new ways of thinking are shifting attitudes and behaviours.
It Must Be NOW is seeing this shift in 2022, as more stakeholders expect companies to show leadership, increase ambition, and act to help preserve our most important assets – people and nature. We are also seeing massive distractions and energy challenges, and more excuses to delay action at this most urgent of times.
Consumers are scrutinising a brand’s purpose and impacts on people, planet and society. They are also looking for trust and shared values. Many believe that brands bear as much responsibility for positive change as governments, and businesses should commit to protecting nature and natural systems. Even if consumers struggle to make it a lifestyle, more are conscious with a sustainability mindset and increasing the pressure on brands to make it easier for them to do so.
The April 2022 UN Climate Report warned that there must be ‘rapid, deep and immediate’ cuts in CO2 emissions, and that the world must peak the rise of carbon emissions before 2025 and decrease rapidly by 48% by 2030, and methane by a third to keep global temperature at 1.5°C (34.7°F). The report also revealed that it is now inevitable that we will reach 1.5°C this decade, causing climate breakdown and irreversible destruction in nature.
We need businesses to treat the climate crisis as a crisis by moving beyond small-scale actions, measure and reduce the carbon footprint of their operations and products, put back more into society, the environment and the economy than they take out, and accelerate to achieve Climate Positive.
We may not be able to reverse the course of climate change within our lifetime, but we can make a responsible choice to boldly driving change and build resilience NOW. If we tune out the distractions, listen to the science and refocus our minds to act NOW, we will make a difference.
Believe that the future is worth fighting for … this is where our power to change a situation starts.
It Must Be NOW!