Businesses are responding to the new consumer empowerment. Brands are rushing to compete for the “conscious dollar” and appeal to the growing army of sustainability-focused customers.

For example, if you buy a jumper from trendy knitwear company, Sheepinc, you can tap your smartphone against the tag for a full history of how it got to you. Spoiler alert: it was woven on a 100 per cent solar-powered machine and delivered to you by a carbon-neutral logistics firm.

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If you buy a pair of shoes from the hot New Zealand-American footwear company, Allbirds, you’ll find a number stamped prominently on the inside sole. That’s not the shoe size, it’s the kilograms of carbon emissions used in its manufacture. In case you are wondering, the average Allbirds shoe generates 7 kilograms of emissions, less than half the CO2 of typical joggers.

Big companies are also making major sustainability pivots. While many companies are pledging to get to “net zero”, some are going even further. Microsoft has committed to not only eliminating emissions, but to reverse its historical emissions. Their goal is to eliminate all the carbon the company and its suppliers have emitted since its founding in 1975.

Importantly, new global rules will crack down on companies that are all talk and no action on sustainability. The United Nations Glasgow climate summit last year launched the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) which will replace a patchwork of voluntary disclosure practices with “baseline” global standards to lift transparency and crack down on greenwashing.

Eight in 10 Australians say sustainability is important to them, but until recently they didn’t have the information to act on their preferences. That is starting to change. While our votes will matter in the next election, we don’t have to wait for politicians to act. We have the power every day to vote climate with our wallets.

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