By the time you read this the election will be over and Australia will have opted for ‘more of the same’ Coalition flavoured policies, or the ‘Me Too’ policies of Mr Rudd. Either way there are going to be huge question marks around how either government is going to respond to Climate Change in the near future.
I suppose it should come as no surprise that the public has shown more concern, or at least desire for action, regarding the issue of climate change than the politicians appear to have done. People almost always out-think and out-lead politicians on a whole range of issues.
When Al Gore visited Australia in September he described this election as the Climate Change election. He was not wrong. Since then we have had an enormous focus on the Coalition/ALP jousts around environmental policy, people power being exerted on Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth around his Pulp Mill decision, 100,000 people on the streets in the ‘Walk Against Warming’ and this week (w/c 19th November) the media full of the latest IPCC report highlighting faster than anticipated climatic impacts and the dire consequences for government (and people) inaction!
The election noise around environmental policy has been turbo-charged by a whole host of NGOs and Environmental Not for Profits, each with an interest in getting a strong message out to the political parties. My own agency bellamyhayden, has worked with Love Communications to help The Climate Institute bring its ‘Vote 1 Future Party’ campaign to life featuring Australia’s youngest climate change campaigner Jack Simmons. Along with the advertising, you may have spotted one of their ‘Cool Vans’ handing out ice creams, and talking about a better future for kids like Jack, in a marginal seat near you!
Government policy, driven by the democratic process, is quite clearly going to be a critical factor in how we cope as a species with the changes to our environment. However, one of the most powerful expressions of people’s concern and desire for sustainability is when they change the way they vote with their wallets.
Here are a couple of interesting vote winners that I picked up on in the UK. The first is for Innocent Drinks, whose business and brand is anchored around sustainability. Check out http://trees.innocentdrinks.co.uk for information on their latest on pack promotion. A Buy One Get One Tree (or should I say BOGOT) strategy.
The second gem which seems to be swinging votes is for ‘UnPackaged’ (http://beunpackaged.com) a grocery retailer which has turned the clock back to a time when people brought their own packaging to the shoppe. I know what you are thinking. It does sound a bit Little House on the Prairie, however UnPackaged has grown up from a presence at farmers markets to having its own permanent shop-front in Islington in little over a year!
