Atlassian chief Mike Cannon-Brookes backs ‘climate crisis’ strike

Business leaders have pledged support for September 20’s “climate crisis’’ strike led by youth activists.

Atlassian co-founder and chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes.

A group of business leaders ­including Australia’s fourth-­richest, Mike Cannon-Brookes, has pledged support for September 20’s “climate crisis” strike led by youth activists, and are encouraging their staff to take part.

The group calling itself “Not Business as Usual” is led by ­Future Super, Atlassian, KeepCup and energy wholesaler Amber. It includes mostly technology and energy businesses such as Small Giants, Energy Lab and Startmate.

Atlassian boss Mr Cannon-Brookes, who last year started a renewable energy movement dubbed Fair Dinkum Power, said he was supporting Atlassian staff who wanted to join the strike and would probably do so himself.

“At Atlassian, one of our core values is ‘Don’t @#$% the Customer’. This year, we’re taking that a step further with ‘Don’t @#$% the Planet’,” he said in a blog post.

“Humanity faces a climate change emergency. It’s a crisis that demands leadership and ­action. But we can’t rely on governments alone. Sadly, in Australia, we can’t rely on them at all.

“Businesses and individuals must also play their part and this responsibility is even more urgent when governments fail.”

His comments follow a high-profile entry into the climate ­debate by BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie, who in a speech in July said the dependence on fossil fuels posed a potentially “existential” risk to the planet and climate change was ­escalating towards a “crisis” point.

At the same time Mr Mackenzie outlined plans for the resources giant to become one of only a small group of companies to set “scope 3” targets to account for emissions across the entire value chain of the company.

Mr Cannon-Brookes, whose holding in Atlassian puts his paper wealth at $13.3bn ­according to The List published by The Australian, said his software company had signed up to the RE100 targets and would be 100 per cent renewable by 2025.

“Participation is totally optional (in the strike),” he said. “It’s up to each and every employee to decide whether they will attend. But every Atlassian deserves the freedom to be heard.”

He added that every workplace was different and some ­people would not be able to take part because they worked in emergency services or other customer-facing roles.

“The bottom line is this: our staff who attend will have Atlassian’s full support,” he said.