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Learning from such initiatives, coupled with detailed opinion surveys and conveningsof key players, suggests a fertile ground for consumer-facing climate change initiatives,by business, government, the voluntary sector, and by alliances of all three. There areopportunities for consumer climate change initiatives taking any of the six strategies forchange identifi ed:Consumer Climate Change strategiesDo your bitMaking changesthat add upDriving the marketGreeningreputationsThat didn’t hurtA movement forchangeVisible and achievable actions such as using low energy lightbulbs and buying greener appliances have already achieved highlevels of mainstream adoption.Nearly one fi fth of Australian consumers are motivated to takemore targeted actions.Active consumers are helping to create markets for productswhich have already become ‘badges of commitment’, such asgreen energy and other products promoted on their green merits.Nearly two thirds of Australian consumers say that they wouldprefer to do business with a company that is working to reduceits impacts on the climate. Australian companies thereforeface strong incentives both at home and abroad to green theirreputations.Infl uencing the opinions and actions of the 23% of consumersnot currently engaged with climate change will be crucial ingaining public acceptance of measures such as carbon tradingand road-pricing, and for the industrial restructuring that wouldcome with a switch to greener energy sources.Australia’s active consumers suggest fertile grounds for a broadermovement, actively infl uencing friends, neighbours, legislatorsand public debate.At present the approaches being taken tend to cluster at the top end of this list, focusingon providing information to enable consumers to make incremental changes in theirproduct choices. However, it is becoming clear that these approaches cannot alonecreate change at the scale and pace needed, given Australians’ oversized carbonfootprints. At present, there is still a large gap between Australians’ high level of climateconcern and expressed wish to take action, and the limited impact their actionsare having.This gap is a critical risk both for Australia’s strategy of becoming a global climate leader,and for specifi c low carbon marketing initiatives, however well conceived. One approachproposed to close the gap, and enable more ambitious action by consumers, is a robustassurance process to create greater credibility of claims and to enable consumers,businesses and government bodies to hold each other accountable for their impacts.What Assures Consumers on Climate Change – Australian Update 27