Australia Businesswomen Want to Go Green?

Business & Politics

Westpac is one of Australia’s Big Four banks, who’ve won a few green accolades of late (they’ve managed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by about 28,000 tonnes over the past three years). The other day they released details of some research undertaken with Australian businesswomen. 100 female business owners and financial decision-makers across the country, with combined annual turnover greater than $2.5 million, were surveyed. Apparently almost 40% said they would like to learn more about how their business could be more sustainable. Westpac's head of women's markets, Larke Riemer reckons, "The business landscape is changing and our research is showing is that Australian women are leading the way in developing new models which incorporate a triple-bottom-line approach to financial, social and environmental responsibility."

An article in a Sydney newspaper quotes Heather Rose, a director of the Australian arm of Green Team, a communications agency specialising in travel, cause-related marketing, and "progressive" brands, as saying, "This has been an area of growing concern for many people." Though later on she is a bit more hard nosed, suggesting the move by big businesses towards tackling sustainability was not an emotional or moral decision, but a business one. "We have looked at a new target market called the awakening consumer," she said. (A cynic might think the aforementioned survey was merely a vehicle for promoting a series of upcoming business seminars for women, but we never wrinkle our brows around here.) Via ::Sydney Morning Herald.