helming,” Heaps Normal chief executive Andy Miller told Inside Retail.  “With the federal election right around the corner, it’s more important than ever that climate change is at the top of people’s minds, and, like heaps of other businesses around the country, [Heaps Normal] has been searching for ways to lower our own impact on the environment. “But sometimes it feels like, as a small business, we’re using a garden hose to fight a megafire when it comes to climate action.” According to research by YouGov, 67 per cent of Australian voters believe the government should be doing more to address climate change, including a majority in all 151 national seats. Both the Coalition and Labor parties have promised Australia will reach net zero emissions by 2050, but proposed significantly different paths to get there. Despite this, the current election campaigns by both parties have largely avoided the topic of climate action, instead mostly focusing on a battle of economic management.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heaps Normal (@heapsnormal) Independent scientific analysis Climate Action Tracker recently released a report that found that the Federal Government’s approach would add three degrees of global warming by 2030, while Labor’s would lead to two degrees. The Greens and Teal independents’ plans would lead to an increase of 1.5 degrees over the same period. This is one of the reasons that Miller kicked off This Is Not Normal: If Australia’s major political parties are not addressing climate change, despite the majority of Australians pushing for action, it falls on brands to do it. “This is what consumers are demanding of the brands they buy from,” Miller said.  “We want to remain in touch with our communities and what they expect of us. I think that’s the same for the other businesses that have signed up to our campaign. It’s about recognising that more urgent action is required, and that more needs to be done. “So, we’re just getting on with it. Policymakers have been lagging on this, but businesses are leading the way. For example, Heaps Normal is only two years old, but from day one, we’ve been donating 2 per cent of our revenue to reduce our social and environmental impact. We’re currently building a new brewery, and one of the key considerations in the design of that is its environmental sustainability. “I just think it’s important to see our policymakers catch up.” “We can’t afford another three years of inaction” Ethical furniture design brand Koskela founder Sarah Titchkosky was one of the first to sign up to the campaign, as the vast majority of Australian businesses are SMEs which represent 57 per cent of the country’s GDP, so it’s critical for them to take collective action. “While each of us may be small individually, together we can have a huge impact if we help drive change across our businesses, workforce, customers and supply chains,” Titchkosky said.  “This election is the make or break one for Australia. We can’t afford another three years of inaction because our political parties are beholden to fossil fuel donors. The incoming government must work to reform our broken political system and shift the focus back to good policy.” Miller said that while the businesses that have signed on to promote This Is Not Normal are not policy experts, they are willing to lend their expertise to help policymakers following the election. “It’s important to note that we’re not telling anyone how to vote. We want to work with whoever takes government after May 21,” Miller said.  “Heaps Normal, alongside the coalition of businesses that have signed up to This Is Not Normal, are looking forward to providing productive and constructive input on what the next government can do to support businesses, as well as doing more directly on climate action.”