Global brands unite for digital sustainability platform

Coca-Cola, Google and Nike are among a coalition of some of the world's biggest companies that are sponsoring a global digital platform which aims to drive behaviour change among millennials by making more sustainable living 'the new normal'.


‘Collectively’ is a new non-profit editorial platform launched today (7 October) by Forum for the Future. The website has been designed to scale-up sustainable innovation and inspire action by ‘connecting the people, places and products that are helping to shape the future’. (Scroll down for video).

“Despite efforts by NGOs, governments and business, sustainability still suffers from an image problem,” said Forum for the Future’s founder-director and trustee Jonathon Porritt. “Yet day after day the most creative minds in the world are thinking and building new solutions to the world’s most pressing problems – in a way that is simple, accessible and desirable. And more and more young people are already demanding these solutions.

“Collectively is an exciting new opportunity to genuinely change the mood music on sustainability. Amplifying and scaling up the innovations and ideas that will shift us to a more sustainable future, now.”

Tipping point

Unilever, BT Group, Marks & Spencer and Carlsberg were some of the first companies to support the Collectively initiative; in response to discussions at the World Economic Forum about how to inspire and accelerate more sustainable ways of living. They have since been joined by more than 20 other leading multinational companies including Facebook, PepsiCo and Nestlé.

BT Group’s chief sustainability officer Niall Dunne said: “We’re starting to reach a tipping point in world resources, one that demands a collective movement to reverse. We need to completely shift the way we behave and move to a more conscientious and collaborative model for consumption.

“Luckily there’s a generation already acting this way. Millennials are leading the way in demanding more sustainable solutions and it’s up to organizations and companies to scale up their actions. This is what Collectively has been set up to help achieve, so that sustainability becomes the new normal.”

Live, work, play

Collectively will be updated daily by an independent editorial team with stories, information and solutions from various industries including fashion, food and technology. The platform’s audience will also be encouraged to submit ideas for the channel around a series of themes that will be regularly refreshed.

Collectively’s chief executive Will Gardner said: “Encouraging people to choose to live, work and play sustainably on a scale that will genuinely make a difference is one of the world’s biggest challenges. We hope to change that through Collectively. It’s a place to share stories, inspire each other and create the change we need to see in the world.

“We want to change the way we think about sustainability – by making sustainable living feel relevant and rewarding.”

VIDEO: Welcome to Collectively

The Collectively website went live at 5am today and can now be accessed at Collectively.org

Luke Nicholls

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