The World Is On Fire, Will You Hold the Hose?

Charlotte Berry is a senior copywriter at Howatson+Co Sydney, making work that works.

She has composed the National Anthem of the Ocean that’s part of the school curriculum. It has since won an ARIA (Australia’s Grammys) in the first year an advertising category was introduced. She has used data to unearth the next generation of female surfing talent, increasing participation by 6%. She has launched a rum brand on a desert island, changing the model of conservation.

Her work has been recognised on a local and global stage including Clios, LIA,s, Effies, Spikes, Caples and as one of the youngest Cannes Young Lions winners in history. Her industry contribution has been recognised as AdNews Emerging Leader of the Year Grand Prix, Cannes Lions See It Be It, B&T Women in Media Rising Star and 30 under 30.

Last Wednesday, I cried into the shoulder of the former deputy press secretary of the United States.

Yes, you read correct.

The world is on fire, human rights are regressing, sea levels are rising.

Whilst we hold positions of power, it’s hard not to feel powerless.

So I asked Judy Smith how we go on.

Peering over her glasses, she paused.

“Can I give you a hug?”

Of course, after wiping the tears away, she gave an eloquent answer.

But it was her action that woke me up.

This is the power of female leadership.

The intersection of unapologetic strength and instinctual empathy.

Last week, I went to Cannes. But not the Cannes you’re imagining.

See It Be It is a women’s delegate that has been running for 11 years. 1,650 applications, 20 women, 18 countries, 1 mission: changing the world.

Established by Madonna Badger, this leadership accelerator creates space for women and non-binary people in the creative industry. From India to Venezuela, Trinidad to Brazil, we arrived as strangers and left as a global board of problem solvers. A sisterhood.

To earn my place in the program, I shared my blueprint of the future:

80% of people displaced by climate change are women (UN, 2022).

Like gender bias, climate change is rooted in the patriarchal need for power over the planet and its finite resources.

Women’s leadership results in stronger climate policy, reduced emissions and land protection (NRDC, 2024).

To survive, we must embrace a feminist approach -- prioritising making change over being in charge, collaborating and communicating.

I can say, without hesitation, I experienced this blueprint come to life.

From 9-5 we learnt from some of the world’s greatest creative minds.

Uncommon founders, Natalie Graham and Lucy Jameson, reframed creativity as survival.

Afghan songwriter, rapper and activist, Sonita Alizadeh, called us to be the voice for those without one.

Mischief ECD, Bianca Guimares, posed provocative thinking as a strategic weapon.

Former Goodby Silverstein CSO and writer, Bonnie Wan asked us: “Why not the world?”

And Josy Paul, founder of DAVID and CCO of BBDO India, reminded us that anyone can take on authority -- before taking our plea to the global stage and using his speech as Sustainable Development Jury President to ask CMOs to act. Immediately.

Outside the course, I realised the deep commitment that so many have for making systemic change. Discussing not only politics but freezing polar ice cores. Transforming infrastructure to transform business. Shifting from individual cynicism to galvanising collective action.

Whilst bursting with ideas and the platform to make them happen, it would be remiss not to mention the concern I leave with.

I am conflicted about the opposing forces of our industry.

On one hand, we are changing hearts, minds and supply chains to decarbonise the planet.

On the other, we’re celebrating four-digit growth of businesses selling millions of single-use products -- or worse, making them to break. All at cheaper prices than ever, but at what cost?

Our landfills are clogged with plastic that will live in the earth for thousands of years, leaching into our water supplies and blood streams.

Our atmosphere is suffocating with carbon dioxide from industries that power a 24/7/365 culture of wasteful over consumption.

We barrack to clients about the power of long-term brand building but these metrics of brand growth are short sighted.

As Josy so eloquently said, “Sustainable profit comes from innovation, not destruction”.

Measures of growth must change, if not for the longevity of the planet, for longevity of the business.

This realisation reminded me of something I said to my Dad as a kid, “If you don’t have an environment, you don’t have an economy.”

In this one precious life, we have one job. To leave the world better than we arrived.

After spending the week with this visionary group of women, I still have a healthy dose of concern…but now I have hope. As the guardians of some of the world’s biggest brands, we don’t have an opportunity, we have a responsibility.

I invite anyone who resonates with this to reach out and join the movement.

This year we will be launching mAd Science. An initiative pairing science with communications to turn climate research into creative briefs.

We will fight.

We will win.

And when it all feels too hard, we will remember the power of a hug.