{"id":17010,"date":"2020-09-14T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/?p=17010"},"modified":"2021-01-18T16:04:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T05:04:51","slug":"six-months-in-reflections-on-a-new-sustainability-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/us\/2020\/09\/14\/six-months-in-reflections-on-a-new-sustainability-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Six months in: reflections on a new sustainability landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ashleigh returned to Australia at the beginning of this year to become Edge\u2019s Head of Sustainability Leadership and Communications<\/a>. Six months in, she reflects on the changes she\u2019s found, and the opportunities she\u2019s seen, across the Australian sustainability landscape.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After five years in London working with some of the most ambitious sustainability teams in the world, I recently moved back home to join Edge as Head of Sustainability Leadership & Communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll admit, I was nervous about coming back. While I was in London, I was lucky enough to work with some incredible companies including Lego, Google, Maersk, Mondi and many more companies across the UK, Europe and US where sustainability is deeply entrenched. I\u2019d kept an eye on the sustainability agenda back home and had flashbacks to a deeply polarised political discourse, a sceptical public and a business community sometimes reticent to take a public leadership position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past few months since coming home, I\u2019ve been blown away by the progress the sustainability agenda has made. I\u2019ve spotted mainstream, consumer-facing sustainability positioning by some of our most recognisable brands, seen marked shifts in rhetoric and behaviour, and met a range of impressive individuals making sustainability commonplace. But there are still some big opportunities for Australian businesses, Government and NGOs to align even more closely with global sustainability momentum. Here are three of those areas and some tips for getting it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Define the value proposition of sustainability<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Too often we focus all of our time and energy on delivering a project, report or initiative but forget to think about who it\u2019s for<\/em> (i.e. investors, customers, employees, suppliers or the wider community) and the value it provides them. We need to get better at telling our sustainability stories in a way that engages people and addresses their needs. We should all be asking ourselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n