Recent dramatic headlines certainly back this up. High profile companies have pulled back from climate commitments or have missed emissions reductions targets (BP, Blackrock, Coca Cola, Microsoft). CSRD – a sustainability reporting regulation in the EU – has delayed implementation for small and medium companies, and the UN has reported country commitments are not enough to meet our 1.5 limit on global warming.

However, if you scratch beneath the surface, a different, more accurate picture emerges. One of renewed focus, smarter strategies, and real action. With over 12 years in sustainability (a tiny portion of the overall movement), I’ve seen a few cycles. It’s starting to feel a lot like the stock market, the real impact comes to those who play the long game and stay the course.

Sustainability doesn’t die, it evolves, and it matures. And right now, that’s exactly what we’re seeing.

Here’s what’s really happening

Headlines aren’t the full picture. PWC’s State of Decarbonisation Report 2024 finds that 37 per cent of companies are increasing their ambitions, while only 16 per cent are getting less aggressive. The number of companies making commitments through CDP has increased nine-fold over the last five years.

Leading brands aren’t stepping back, they’re stepping up. In a company’s early stage of sustainability, over exuberance can lead to overly ambitious targets. Resetting or missing a target can be a positive sign of transparency and more sophisticated data management.  Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher recently said “When the initial targets were set, we may have underestimated the scale and complexity of what it takes to make that happen”. Unilever may have adjusted targets, but they maintain their overall ambition of net zero by 2039 across the whole value chain.

Audiences still care (surprise!), and they’re watching. Despite predictions that cost-of-living pressures would dominate all else this election, climate remains firmly among the top 4 concerns for Australians, according to Roy Morgan. And it is not just politicians who need to do more. Research by YouGov shows that 9 out of 10 Australians think businesses need to do more to protect nature. The very consumers brands need to engage. This fundamental demand driver hasn't gone away.

Leading companies are demonstrating that emissions reduction is possible. Companies in the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, with members including IKEA Group, ING Group, Unilever, and Heineken NV, collectively drove emissions reductions of 10 per cent while overseeing aggregate growth in revenue of 18 per cent, exceeding global GDP growth. Effectively de-coupling emissions reduction from growth.

Walking the talk: sustainability in action in the Australian marketing sector

JCDecaux is no stranger to a long-term sustainable vision, with a business model providing public goods through advertising revenue starting back in 1964. Today in Australia that model is brought to life in a unique three pillar approach, 1) develop a sustainable and responsible business, 2) be transparent and always collaborative, 3) create sustainable solutions. 

And we’re not alone in the marketing and advertising sector. Last year, we were founding members of Ad Net Zero alongside 27 other brands, agencies, and industry businesses. All companies in Ad Net Zero commit to measuring and reducing emissions.

We create sustainable solutions to enable the industry to make more sustainable choices. Last week, we ran our first low-emissions programmatic campaign in partnership with Hearts & Science and SBS. The results showed that by SBS choosing our sustainable programmatic solution, we delivered 50 per cent less emissions than the Scope3 digital Out-of-Home benchmark.

June Cheung, Head of JAPAC at Scope3, a platform for measuring media emissions, notes that the number of impressions traded on low-emissions PMPs has increased by 240 per cent year over year.

More mature companies recognise that transparency and collaboration are critical to success and are continuing their commitment to sustainable action. For example, GroupM recently invited us to a small cross-functional workshop to explore how we could work together to advance sustainability. We talked data reliability, evidence-based solutions, and scalable options to fast-track action. This approach shows a more serious and robust approach from key industry players.

We’re also collaborating with innovative brands that are pushing the boundaries to produce posters with sustainable, natural materials, demonstrating that creativity and sustainability can coexist.

The backlash is just noise. Don’t sell out now, the real investment is in the long term.   

Let’s be clear, navigating the path to genuine sustainability is hard. The data is complex, the reporting requirements are evolving, and the solutions are often new – but pulling back now would be like abandoning a clean-up halfway because someone threw another plastic bottle in the river.  

Do we just give up and start dumping too? Of course not. We push harder. Because we know the cost of walking away is far greater in the long term.

Sustainability isn’t dead. It’s growing up. It’s becoming more strategic, more integrated, and more necessary than ever.

So no, this isn’t the end of the movement. It’s the next chapter. And the brands that recognise that? They’ll be the ones in the lead.