Workers want company climate action — but don’t believe the hype

Most Australian workers believe the nation’s biggest companies have a responsibility to address climate change, according to a new survey.

However, even if businesses do take meaningful strides on climate commitments, scepticism remains among their employees.

The revelations come from new West Australian research surveying 2048 workers across the nation, which the authors said showed most workers were not questioning whether businesses should be acting on climate change, but were not convinced meaningful progress was being made.

The report, from the Curtin Centre for Applied Ethics, is the first of a series of studies examining several issues business leaders face against a backdrop of a “polycrisis” unfolding via several channels across the world.

Professor Anthony Langlois, Stan Perron Dean of Applied Ethics and CCAE director, said climate change was already a workplace health, safety and productivity issue.

“From our respondents, it’s quite clear that exposure [to effects of climate change] concentrates in frontline roles,” he said.

“So, if we’re thinking about technicians, trades workers, machinery operators and so on, 59 per cent of them have worked in temperature extremes, and 45 per cent in places with smoke fumes and dust.

“Whereas if you’re talking about managers and professionals, those figures drop down to 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

“One of the things I found really interesting about this class of workers, the ones that we think of as the most exposed workers, they’re also the most disillusioned about what is happening in the broader social and political response to climate change.”

Of that cohort, 58 per cent surveyed were dissatisfied with the federal government’s response to climate change, while 58 per cent felt they had no meaningful say in the political system.

According to the report, the latter figure rose to 60 per cent among workers exposed to smoke, fumes or dust.

And workers expect climate change to impact their cost of living most, with 41 per cent listing it as an area of “major impact”.

“Employees encounter climate change first as an affordability and security question, not an abstract environmental one,” the report reads.

Langlois said the research highlighted the importance of transparency, with employees willing to support corporate climate action, but “unwilling to take it on trust”.

“People want change, and they’re entirely happy to be persuaded that companies are doing things and that the government is doing things, they just want to see the evidence,” he said.

“And that’s really important for our situation here in Western Australia, when you think about the mix of industries that we have here, particularly those dealing with energy and mining.

Langlois pointed to recently introduced mandatory climate reporting requirements as an opportunity for businesses to show meaningful action on climate change-related goals.

“Talk to the whole of your workforce about what you’re doing, not just the boards and the investors, but talk to the people all the way down the hierarchy, and have conversations with workers about transition planning,” he said.

“Don’t rely on a PR campaign, use the evidence and that will persuade people.”

Co-author Professor Astghik Mavisakalyan said most employees assumed “greenwashing” was common – 79 per cent of those surveyed – and few accepted sustainability claims at face value.

“Employees are far more likely to trust climate claims that are independently audited or backed by mandatory disclosure requirements than claims that rely solely on self-reporting,” she said.

The report also shed some light on the growing political divide on the topic, with the gap between left and right-leaning Australians widening from 32 to 48 percentage points between 2010 and 2025.

The perceived threat of global warming shifted “sharply” among left and centre-leaning Australians, while barely budging on the right.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.