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New research has discovered that about half of Australians, including 71% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennials would refuse to be employed by a company that did not do its part to address climate change.
The research also discovered that 84%, that’s seven out of eight, Australians believed businesses needed to do more to lower their carbon footprint and emissions.
Conducted by Lonergan Research for ELMO Software, the ‘Climate at Work Report’ has explored Australians’ attitudes towards climate change action and what it means for employers.
Key findings of the study are:
- Almost half (48%) of Australians – 71% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennials – would not work for a business that did not take action to address climate change.
- Seven out of eight (84%) Australians believe Aussie businesses should do more to reduce their emissions and carbon footprint.
- Climate change makes almost three out of four (74%) Aussies worry about the future with 46% worried about their own, and their families, physical and mental wellbeing.
- Four out of five (82%) Australians believe the Federal Government should do more to address climate change.
- Over two fifths (44%) of Australians rated the Federal Government efforts in addressing climate change as poor.
- Three quarters (75%) of Aussies believe that climate change action could generate new jobs
Environmental credentials key link to community support
A business’ environmental credentials also influence the amount of support they can expect from the community. Close to two thirds (64%) of Australians’ level of support for a business is influenced by their environmental credentials. This is higher among Gen Z (83%) and Millennials (70%) while Gen X and Baby Boomers were slightly less influenced at 62 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
It wasn’t just businesses that were told to do more, the Federal Government and State Government’s efforts to address climate change are rated behind community groups and Australian businesses.
Almost half of Australians 44 per cent rate the Federal Government’s efforts to address climate change as poor. The dissatisfaction is higher among people outside the capital cities with 45 per cent of respondents from regional and rural communities rating the Federal Government’s efforts as poor (43% in capital cities).
Meanwhile, State Governments also face criticism for their perceived lack of effort. Queenslanders are most likely to rank their Government’s efforts as poor (40%) followed by New South Wales and the ACT (36%), South Australia (35%), Victoria (34%) and Western Australia (24%).
In another warning sign for employers juggling their employees’ wellbeing, the report found climate change is causing three out of four Australians (75%) to worry about the future. The personal impact of climate change is a concern for 86 per cent of Australians with 58 per cent concerned about future generations’ standard of living.
Close to half (46%) of Australians are concerned about the wellbeing of themselves or their family. The generation most worried about their wellbeing is Gen Z at 61 per cent followed by Millennials (48%), Gen X (44%) and Baby Boomers (39%).
While they are worried about the impacts of climate change, three quarters (75%) of Australians believe that climate change action could generate new jobs while more than half (52%) believe climate action will positively impact the economy.
Job security and salaries are also expected to benefit by achieving globally agreed emissions targets. Two fifths of Australians (42%) believe hitting globally agreed emissions targets will have a positive impact on job security and a third of Australians (35%) believe it will even benefit the salaries/pay of workers.
As initially reported by ITwire
