Hopeful Leadership Now Briefing #3
This is a monthly compilation of hopeful news that speaks to our five impact pillars: self & community, natural environment, built environment, democracy & justice, and business & capital. We hope this briefing shines a light on our pathway to the next economy.
September 2020
Welcome to the Hopeful Leadership Now briefing for September 2020. As we begin to contemplate our re-emergence after COVID lockdown in Victoria, it is the perfect time to ponder how we can imaginatively redesign our economic system to better serve our communities and the natural environment. This month we have been inspired by a cross-section of news from business, public policy, the community sector and art and culture.
The BCorp movement continues to grow in size and influence in Australia. This month our friends at Bank Australia achieved their certification and published great background information and an informative series of FAQs.
Australian state governments are showing leadership in renewables as they plan for economic recovery. The VIC government has announced they are planning to procure a minimum of 600MW of new solar and wind energy capacity for the state. This will make government operations 100 percent renewable. The QLD government has announced that they are establishing three new renewable energy corridors by investing $145m in new transmission infrastructure. And not to be outdone, the ACT government just announced that a new hospital being built south of Canberra will be gas-free and entirely powered by renewables.
Late last year Patagonia published a comprehensive overview of their plan to become carbon neutral (including their supply chain) by 2025 and carbon positive beyond this point. Their plan includes their business, their investments and grants, and their advocacy and activism. This month they published more details on this plan, 2025 or Bust: Patagonia’s Carbon Neutrality Goal. It is ambitious and incredibly inspiring.
Activism really does work. As a result of a concerted Greenpeace campaign, Aldi Australia has announced they are moving to 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2021. The pressure now turns to Australia’s other major retailers. Ben and Jerry’s is also at it again, with a wonderful campaign – “Unfudge Our Future” – to create a clean, resilient and fair Australia.
Confirming the thesis that impact investments are more resilient over the long term and in hard economic times, it appears that these investments are outperforming traditional bets during the COVID-19 crisis. The AFR also reported this month that Australia’s wealthiest families are turning towards impact investments as a new generation begins to take over family offices.
This month we have been intrigued by two beautiful and simple art projects. Firstly, WindowSwap is a new website that allows you to look out someone else’s window. In a time of lockdown, the ability to sit and stare out a window in Catalonia, or New York, or Sao Paulo, or Belgrade, is indeed a rare and beautiful treat. As the New Yorker writes, “no matter how great the view from your window may be, haven’t you had enough of it? The second is human.online, a platform that allows you to connect silently with people from all places and backgrounds. The website connects you with a partner with whom you share one minute in silence, looking at each other through the screen; an extraordinarily powerful way of exploring human connection without words.
Finally, here at SGA we are excited about our upcoming Next Economy programs in September, with Julia Kim on Gross National Happiness and Peter Macfadyen on Flatpack Democracy. We are also building our Mastery of Business and Empathy and are seeking expressions of interest for our 2021 program.
We’re always keen to hear from you! If you have news you’d like to share with us, please send to kaj@smallgiants.com.au