An Open Letter to the Australian Government on Climate Change

A coalition of business, technology, and social impact leaders are pledging action towards a sustainable future, outlining firm goals and transparent timelines to do our part in reducing the impacts of climate change. Today, we’re publishing this open letter to ask our political leaders to do the same.

Dear Mr. Morrison,

We write to you as a coalition of business, technology, and social impact leaders across Australia, hoping to open up an alternative path to the one that Australia is heading down. An alternative of hope, optimism and economic opportunity.

Today, the scientific consensus cannot be any clearer. Climate change is the single greatest threat to global stability, security and life on earth. Its effects are already being felt around the globe: sea levels are rising far ahead of projection, unprecedented bushfires only recently ravaged our own backyard and global temperatures are rising at an alarming rate.

But as innovators, leaders and business builders, we have experienced first-hand the opportunities that often lie in challenges. The solutions required to fight climate change and reduce our carbon emissions already exist, they’re also the future industries that will power Australia’s growth and development on the world stage. In fact, The Climate Council has predicted that Australia being powered by just 50% Renewable Electricity in 2030 will lead to the creation of more than 28,000 new jobs — nearly twice as many as a business as usual scenario.

This opportunity is one that we firmly embrace. With a carbon free future in mind, each of us has committed our organisations to being a catalyst for this change, and embracing the solutions that will help humanity combat climate change. We have all committed to:

• Powering our global operations through 100% renewable energy by 2030
• Net Zero operations by 2040
• Encouraging employees to voice their demand for swift and decisive action by attending the upcoming climate rallies across Australia

Each of those steps will be critical for all organisations to take, but in isolation they will not be enough to prevent the effects of climate change. To do that we need individuals, organisations and governments to step up and commit to legitimate action and effective timelines. Preventing a climate catastrophe is physically and scientifically possible, we just need policy to catch up. It is not too late for Australia to embrace the opportunities that this challenge brings and reap the benefits of leading the charge to climate positive solutions.

We call on you to immediately put in place policies that rapidly reduce Australia’s emissions and create the framework that will provide the foundations of our future growth. This is an appeal for you and your government to do the following:

• Immediately cease further investments in fossil fuels, and put a stop to the ‘gas-led recovery’
• Implement a renewable energy target of 100% by 2030
• Achieve a target of Australia Net Zero by 2040

This letter and thousands like it are being collected at http://towhomitshouldconcern.com. We encourage you to read each of them in order to properly understand the concerns of Australians like you and us, our children and the future generations who deserve a planet with a brighter future.

Sincerely,

Cameron Adams, Co-founder & CPO, Canva

Councillor Jess Miller, City of Sydney

Lord Mayor Clover Moore, City of Sydney

Craig Blair, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Airtree

Daniel Petre AO, Co-founder & General Partner, Airtree

Tim Lucas, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Buildkite

Keith Pitt, Founder & Co-CEO, Buildkite

Ronni Kahn AO, CEO & Founder, OzHarvest

Adam Jacoby, Director Global & Strategic Innovation, Swinburne University & Chairman MiVote

Hichame Assi, CEO, Envato

Alister Coleman, Founder & Managing Partner, Folklore

Rick Baker, Co-founder & Partner, Blackbird

Niki Scevak, Co-founder & Partner, Blackbird

Maxine Sherrin, Festival Director, Spark Festival

George Hedon, Founder & CEO, Pause Fest

Jon Tse, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Karst

Kevin Garcia, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Karst

Justin Dry, Co-founder and Chief Entrepreneur, Vinomofo

Phoebe Gardner, Co-founder & CEO, Beyond Ag

Alex Arnold, Co-founder & CTO, Beyond Ag

Michael Batko, CEO, Startmate

Adam Jacobs, Co-founder, Hatch

Lauren Peate, Founder and CEO, Multitudes

Dean McEvoy, Angel Investor & Advisor

Simon Ingram, Co-founder & Managing Director, Terrain Solar

Daniel Jarosch, Leaders for Climate Action

Dave Greiner, The Greiner Foundation

Martijn Wilder AM, Founding Partner, Pollination

Grant McDowell, Co-founder & CMO, Enosi

Matt Allen, CEO & Co-founder, Tractor Ventures

Markus Mutz, CEO & Co-founder, OpenSC

Prashan Paramanathan, Founder & CEO, Chuffed

Andre Eikmeier, Founder, Good Empire

Brad Parsons, CEO & Founder, MOVUS

Michael Fox, Co-founder & CEO, Fable Food Co

Vince Allen, Co-founder & CEO, SunDrive Solar

David Hu, Co-founder & COO, SunDrive Solar

Simon Griffiths, Co-founder & CEO, Who Gives A Crap

Sam Kroonenburg, CEO & Founder, A Cloud Guru

Alex Zaccaria, Co-founder & CEO, Linktree

Andrew Barnes, CEO & Co-founder, GO1

Matthew Byrne, Founder, Pure

Matt Fairhurst, Co-Founder & CEO, Skedulo

Iain Smale, Managing Director, Pangolin Associates

Eva Ross, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer, Sendle

Desmond Hang, CEO & Founder, Carbar

Sandra Byron, Co-founder & CEO, A Ton of Fun

Lili Sussman, Chief Strategy Officer, WISR

Anna Rose, Co-founder, Groundswell

Chris Andrew, General Manager, Black Duck Foods

Jeff Yu, Co-founder & COO, Discover Energy

Sarah Wilson, Founder and Director, I Quit Sugar Pty Ltd

Mick Liubinskas, Mentor and investor, Startmate

Gernot Abl, Chairman, Esports Mogul Ltd & Live Verdure Ltd

Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-founder, Fleet Space Technologies

Craig Davis, CEO, Upside Founder Programs

Emma Jones, Founder and CEO, Project F

Stuart B Richardson, Managing Partner, Adventure Capital

Steve Gilles, Founder, Lookahead

Julie Mathers, CEO & Founder, Flora & Fauna

David Walsh, Founder & CEO, CIM

Daniel Lohrmann, Managing Director ,Ikaros

Michael Gethen, Managing Partner, Modus Partners

Kai Brach, Founder, Publisher Offscreen Media

Aprill Allen, General Partner & Director, Tractor Ventures

Jonathan Buck, Cofounder, Open Insurance

Didier Elzinga, CEO, CultureAmp

Ben Schwarz, Founder, CEO Calibre Analytics

Gavin Heaton, Co-CEO, Disruptors Co

Michael Molitor, Co-founder, Carbonshift Pty Ltd

Ian Gardiner, Co-founder, Innovation Bay

Andrea Gardiner, Founder and CEO, Jelix Ventures

Phaedon stough, Founder/CEO, Innovation Bay

Bern Blake, CEO, Skills Base

Hayden Rodgers, Founder and Creative Producer , Boom.Squish

Anthony, Coles, Managing Director, H+Lab Australia

Stephen Monk, CEO & Founder, Engage Squared

Michelle Drake, Office Coorindator, Envato

Michelle Hackshall Drake, Vibe Team Coordinator, Envato

Joshua Ismin, Founder, OutBranch

Jeremy Liddle, Founding Partner, SDGx

Mark Monfort , Founder , New Era Analytics

Lisa Tracy, Sustainability Manager, SDGx

Will Richardson, Managing Partner, Giant Leap

Vlad Finn, Commercial Director, SDGx

Matt Elsley, Co-founder and CEO, Qsic

Ben Hurst, CEO, HotDoc

Amogh Sarda, CEO, Amogh Sarda

Pieter Danhieux, CoFounder/CEO, Secure Code Warrior

Tony Boatman, Co Founder, Impact X

Tom Linnell, Managing Director, Ecothink

Alan Jones, Partner, M8 Ventures

Sam Winter, Co-Founder & Director, Startup Apprentice Pty Ltd

Mirella Arapian, Founder & Creative Director, Mek

Danielle Seymour, Director, SOUTHSTART

Ian Birkby, CEO, AZoNetwork.com

David O’Brien, CTO & Co-Founder, ARGOS Cloud Security Pty Ltd

David McEwen, Founder and Director, AdaptCap

Tim Collings, Founder CEO, 4iLeadership

Michael Koslowski, Co-founder, Studio Bucket

Mike Bird, CEO, Urban.com.au

Matt Pearson, CEO, Airspeeder

Mark Tanner, Co-Founder and COO, Qwilr

Jack, Founder of AIME’s

Mark Tipping, Managing Director, Edison Projects Australia

Holly Ransom, CEO, Emergent Solutions

Michael Barwell, CEO and Founder, Member Jungle

Eddie Sheehy, Chairman, Devicie

Jen Sanger, Co-Founder, The Tree Projects

Steve Pearce, Co-Founder, The Tree Projects

Glenn Bartlett, Head of Strategy, Alberts Impact Ventures

David Albert, CEO, Alberts

Louise Morris, Director, Rebel Food Tasmania

Mark A. Tipping, Managing Director, Edison Projects Australia

Lisa Fedorenko, Investment Manager, Alberts Impact Ventures

Emily Albert, Executive Director, Alberts

Alison Michalk, CEO, Quiip

Angie Abdilla, CEO, Old Ways New

Rachel Slattery, Director, Slatterys

Brad Coughlan, Founder & Managing Director, The Data Foundry

Zachary King, CEO, Mobius

Mark Wilsdon, Co-CEO, Mona

Gary James Andrewsm Owner & CEO, VAWT-X Energy Pty Ltd

Liz Dalgleish, Graphic Designer, Studio Hibiscus

Al Percival, CEO, Big Owl Foods

Matthew William Doig, Managing Director, Growthcave Pty LTD