ACCC Begins Crackdown On Greenwashing and 4 Steps to Igniting Transformational Change in Your Organisation
This Week in ESG
ACCC Starts Crackdown on Companies that are Greenwashing
The ACCC have started their investigation to identify companies making false sustainability and environmental claims about their products. A recent survey found that up to 40% of businesses may be making false claims about their products and operations.
The purpose of the crackdown is to protect the consumer. Today, a lot of consumers are making purchasing decisions based on false claims about achieving net zero carbon emissions, sustainability of their products and other environmental standards.
"Ensuring claims are truthful will be an enforcement priority for the ACCC this year, and an enduring one" - Cass-Gottlieb, Head of the ACCC
As this work commences, the ACCC are also planning to create and release guidelines for companies that will outline how and what statements companies are allowed to make about their products. All claims are to be 'clear, defined, limited in their claims, and always have strong verification materials".
So What Does This Mean?
It means it's time for companies and leaders to get environmental and sustainable affairs in order. The belt will only be tightened by the ACCC to ensure that the validity of claims made are true real and pass scientific rigour. An intensification and scrutiny into company climate credentials is also likely to occur.
It is a necessary step to ensure that companies do not gain a competitive advantage through greenwashing.
Recommendation:
The best steps to take to ensure your organisation is not greenwashing and is able to hit any environmental targets are:
2. Set bold and realistic goals around what you would like to achieve within your business around the matters of net zero carbon, ESG and sustainability.
3. Implement the required actions and investment to start moving towards your goals. Consistently measure to make sure any future claims and disclosures are robust.
4. Develop a strong and clear communications plan in line with the science and data.
(Hack: Find a trusted partner that can implement technology that enables you to reduce costs, reduce data error and enables you to have one touch reporting).
This Week In Leadership
How To Ignite And Sustain Organisational Change
In December 1955,?Rosa Parks refused to give a white man her seat on the bus —?a small act of defiance that would become a major moment in history and the Civil Rights Movement.
“People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true,” Parks wrote in her autobiography. “I was not tired physically...No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
This act would give rise to the Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. This story - and many others throughout history demonstrate how transformative social, political and organisational change can be.
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The story shows that transformative change requires strong leadership and sustained effort.
Today, leaders of large organisations — businesses, non-profits, political entities — are increasingly being called upon to drive transformational change, but are finding themselves constrained by uncertainty and distraction.?
Driving Transformational Change
So how do you drive transformational change at an organisation? How do we help our people find innate inspiration? How do we inspire new beliefs and desire for people to achieve what they never thought was possible? How do we build a new future and create a better world?
At Apricot, our experience working with clients show their are actions that must occur to create change over a sustained period of time.
Change requires a catalyst moment but transformation requires a commitment and sustained energy of its leaders. Transformation occurs when the leaders are focused on inspiring others to break the status quo and help them belief the best is yet to come... and that requires time.
2. Bring the pain points into focus
Sustained transformation does not start from a well said motivational speech, but from a deep seated pain and conviction that something needs to change. Neuroscience has proven that people 'feel' before they 'do'.
Recommended action step: Run workshops within the organisation to discuss the pain points of the organisation - what is working, what is not working and what desperately needs to change. Find what people are dissatisfied with at your the organisation and make steps to improve it.
3. Create, Communicate and commit to a bold vision of a better future
Without vision, people struggle to create connection between the actions they are doing and the purpose behind them. Bold, genuine visions that are consistently repeated connect with teams, companies and communities. A bold vision of the future gives meaning and incites action.
4. Build momentum by celebrating the small wins
Culture reflects the realities of people working together everyday. Every small win that is given attention and celebrated is a stepping stone towards getting your teams to believe in the vision and purpose of the organisation. Developing a cadence of highlighting small wins allows the future goal feel a little closer and more achievable.
Recommended Action Step: Start a team highlights page, where small wins and team members are highlighted and celebrated.
Quote of The Week
"Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed – the culture reflects the realities of people working together everyday.”
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