It runs straight through the resources and energy industries the state’s prosperity is built on.
asserted
prosperity → run → industries
Next month Australia presides over the COP31 climate negotiations.
asserted
Australia → preside → negotiations
Far less will be about the people working inside the companies being asked to cut emissions, shift towards cleaner energy and change how they do business.
asserted
they → work → business
Ask those workers whether business should act on climate change and the answer is almost unanimously “yes”.
asserted
answer → ask → change
Ask whether their own employer is delivering, and the mood changes.
asserted
mood → ask → ?
Our new report, The Climate-Exposed Workforce, the first in the Curtin Centre for Applied Ethics’ Polycrisis Report Series, surveyed 2,048 working Australians.
asserted
report → expose → Australians
Almost all of them, 97 per cent, said large companies have at least some responsibility to act on climate change.
asserted
companies → say → change
More than half said their own employer has made a public climate commitment.
asserted
employer → say → commitment
Yet only one in seven believe it is making good progress.
asserted
it → believe → progress
That is a trust gap employers cannot afford to ignore.
asserted
employers → afford → ?
Workers are clear about who should carry the load.
asserted
who → carry → load
Asked which industries have a major responsibility to cut emissions, 59 per cent named energy and utilities companies and 53 per cent named mining and fossil fuel companies. Just 19 per cent said the same of banks and financial institutions.
asserted
cent → ask → banks
In other words, the national workforce is looking squarely at the industries at the heart of WA’s economy.
asserted
workforce → look → economy
But this is not a workforce demanding the shutters come down.
asserted
shutters → demand → ?
On the future of mining and fossil fuels, 60 per cent favoured a gradual transition with strong support for affected workers and communities.
asserted
cent → favour → workers
Only one in 20 thought concerns about these industries are overstated.
asserted
concerns → think → industries
Change is expected, but it should be orderly and fair.
asserted
it → expect → ?
The problem is that few workers believe what companies tell them about that change.
asserted
companies → believe → change
Almost four in five think greenwashing is at least somewhat common among Australian businesses.
asserted
greenwashing → think → businesses
Fewer than one in ten take a company’s sustainability claims at face value.
uncertain
ten → take → value
What changes that is proof.
asserted
that → change → ?
When climate disclosure is required by law, with penalties for misleading claims, 85 per cent of employees would trust their employer’s climate claims.
uncertain
cent → require → claims
When claims are independently audited, 79 per cent would.
uncertain
cent → audit → ?
When companies simply report on themselves, trust falls to around 44 per cent.
asserted
trust → report → cent
There is a second problem: even genuine progress often goes unseen.
asserted
progress → be → ?
Just 9 per cent of entry and mid-level staff believe their employer is making good progress on its climate commitments, compared with 31 per cent of senior managers and executives.
asserted
employer → believe → managers
The people expected to carry out a transition are the least likely to see it happening.
asserted
it → expect → transition
And companies should not mistake quiet for agreement.
asserted
companies → mistake → agreement
If they learned their employer was performing poorly on climate, 71 per cent of workers would discuss it with colleagues, but only 49 per cent would raise it with management.
asserted
cent → learn → management
Almost a quarter would do nothing at all.
asserted
quarter → do → nothing
If their employer could show strong commitments and verified progress, 84 per cent of employees say they would accept changes at work to reduce emissions, 78 per cent would change their own habits and 68 per cent would contribute financially.
uncertain
cent → show → habits
Nearly four in 10 employees say they would take a job paying $10,000 less at a company with strong, verified climate performance, as would 45 per cent of managers and above.
asserted
cent → say → managers
For employers competing for skilled staff, credible climate action is part of the offer.
asserted
action → compete → offer
So what should businesses in WA and across the country do?
asserted
businesses → do → country
The rules line up closely with the conditions under which workers say they would believe corporate climate claims.
uncertain
they → line → claims
Set concrete milestones, check them independently and tell staff in plain language how the company is tracking.
asserted
company → set → language
Giving them a genuine say can help companies deliver the orderly, fair transition most want, and to hear concerns before they harden.
asserted
they → give → concerns
On our evidence, communicating more without verifying anything is likely to deepen distrust, not reduce it.
asserted
communicating → communicate → it
We live in what we describe as a “polycrisis”, where the cost of living, technological change, geopolitical tension and a changing climate press on one another.
asserted
cost → live → one
In that environment, trust is scarce and easily lost.
asserted
trust → lose → environment
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
