What A Few Weeks
And I'm back
Welcome to the 36th edition of Honey Drops. It’s been a few weeks since the newsletter, and below you will see why - it’s been full of activity.
Coming to you today from blue skies and sunshine - how good is Spring? Forward this on to someone who could do with a drop of honey to kickstart the longer days ahead.
Three Thoughts From Me
Turning Sustainability Into A Strategic Advantage
The week of the 18th started with joining Sydney Straver from &BLOOM Sustainability and Alex Horton from econome to run a masterclass for those companies (Group 2 and Group 3, in mandatory climate reporting parlance) who sit in the supply chains of Australia‘s largest organisations (Group 1s).
Following an excellent Acknowledgement of Country by Diksha Duggal, Sydney kicked things off for the day with a deep dive into Corporate Governance and Strategy, as well as the shifting expectations of investors when evaluating which companies to invest in.
Alex then hosted a panel with Mike Suffield from Westpac, Jessica Zickar from ICC Sydney and Afonso Firmo from NetNada, who Honey Droppers know from our interview in the 28th edition: ‘So, What’s Everyone Seeing?’. It was an excellent discussion, filled with successes, challenges and a consistent refrain: ‘start now, because it is going to take longer than you think’. There will come a point in the not-too-distant future where this work is urgently required by a key stakeholder and you want to be prepared for that moment, not having to react. (Kind of like homework?)
I then closed things out with the power of external strategic partnerships to support you on this transformation. Whether you’re an Exec or Non-Executive Director who currently has no Sustainability function, or the Sustainability team has no capacity for an urgent deliverable, or you want to strategically utilise an ongoing hybrid model to stay on top of best practices, I illustrated how there is an Ocelli partner to support you stay on top of your fiduciary and commercial duties.
We were thrilled that one of the audience questions during the Q&A was ”When is the next one?”. Will keep you posted.
A big thanks to everyone involved and here’s some pics!
SEVENTEENx Brisbane
The second stop of the week was in Brisbane on Wednesday at QUT’s ROOM THREE SIXTY, which certainly lived up to it’s name. Mick Hase hosted another outstanding SEVENTEENx, where the audience listened to the impactful journeys of Cori Moran from Cisco, Dominiqe Bird about building Civik, Global Sustainability Advisor Heidi Hauf, and myself.
Cori shared her personal and professional impact throughout two decades at Cisco, including meeting the great man himself, Sir David Attenborough, via Cisco’s global partnership with WWF she was involved in. She also spoke about Cisco’s $100m Regeneration Fund (!!), with $50m for climate and social impact not-for-profit grants, and $50m for climatetech startups and venture funds.
Dominiqe is an outstanding social entrepreneur, a man with many talents and just as many hats, who launched a construction social enterprise called Civik, that has grown to $1m annual revenue, has employed many people across Cairns and played a pivtol role in connected Far North Queensland to the NBN network. A true force of nature.
Heidi took us through Sustainable Aviation Fuels, also known as SAFs, based on her years as Boeing’s Chief Sustainability Officer. It was a clear-eyed yet compelling overview of the many opportunities for Australia to become a leading provider of SAFs, as well as the physical and resource challenges the industry faces in order to deliver it. I also appreciated Heidi’s reminder of the important role aviation plays for humanity, whether that be connecting families around the world, delivering medical and health supplies, or supporting international trade through commercial import/export markets. It’s one of the things I love about Sustainability - so many wicked problems!
And I had the pleasure of speaking from a macroeconomic position, specifically why the the Circular Flow Diagram from ECON101 is no longer fit for purpose in today’s climate. Rather we need to be incorporating the Planetary Boundaries (below) by ensuring society and the natural resources that $44 trillion dollars of the global economy relies on are not only protected, but also regenerated.
I also spoke about being at the forefront of the Participation Trophy movement in the late 90s, but I’ll let you watch the recording when it’s available in a couple of weeks to see why that’s important to Australia’s current business community.
Testimonials
Some more testimonials have come in for Ocelli over the past couple of weeks, which always put a smile on my dial.
Especially as they are both from Honey Droppers:
“Dan has been an exceptional partner, providing support in identifying and connecting us with collaborators tailored to our unique sustainability needs. His warm introductions and insightful guidance have played a pivotal role in expanding our network of aligned and capable partners. I wholeheartedly recommend Dan and The Ocelli Group to any sustainability leader seeking thoughtful, strategic support in building meaningful partnerships.”
- Siobhan McCarthy, Sustainability Lead, Strategy and Performance, Murdoch University
“Always armed with considered questions, Dan has a way of swiftly deciphering your business needs & gaps. He made connections and recommendations for a solution, which alleviated an ongoing headache and solved one of those big 'back-burner' issues.”
- Alison Michalk, CEO, Quiip
No matter what issue has you stumped, we’re ready to connect you with the right expertise to orchestrate your transition and transform your value chain. Shoot me a message and we can have chat.
Two Quotes From Others
“The new global economy is rising, powered by clean energy and green industry… Prime Minister Albanese now has the chance to show the Pacific and the world that Australia is ready to lead at Cop31 and beyond.”
Christiana Figueres, ‘Former UN climate chief urges Australia to set ‘prosperity’ target of cutting emissions by 75% by 2035’
“We cannot do it the way our fathers did.”
Stellios Boutaris, winemaker in Northern Greece, ‘Farmers across Europe struggle to adapt to the climate crisis’
One Thing For You To Ponder
So, the reason I have taken a few weeks off Honey Drops is after giving four different presentations in 13 days, I hit a wall. I was drained, I was knackered. And it was a good reminder, that the best thing you can do for your own sustainability is to listen to your body and take a break.
I’m back to my usual energy, excited for the rest of the year, but also thankful for the rest. And a good reminder that the sky won’t fall in if you need to take some time off.
This is absolutely a marathon, not a sprint. We operate in a space where this is often a difficult balance: we know what the scenario analyses and projections say, yet we still find ourselves in conversations with holders of purse strings about whether this is really a priority for this quarter.
Stay healthy and look after yourself so that you can be here for the long haul.
