At a glance
As told to Susan Muldowney
Question: As a business leader, I know ESG is important – and I take it seriously – but it’s becoming much harder to navigate, with stakeholders seeming to expect more from businesses while becoming increasingly suspicious of issues like ‘greenwashing’ and ‘bluewashing’.
“How can we build trust and communicate what we’re doing in the ESG space with authenticity?”
Answer: It is becoming more difficult indeed. One of the biggest challenges related to ESG communication lies in the reality that, as humans, we tend to think we are more ethical than we are.
In the ESG communication space, this has led to statements – often made by well-meaning people/corporations – that suggest that corporations are willing to do more than they actually are when it comes to ESG.
Stakeholders these days are savvy and view statements like this with great scrutiny – something that can create significant risk for corporations if or when the discrepancy between words and actions is called out.
Three key things that organisations can do to ensure a higher degree of integrity in their communication are as follows:
- Support viewpoint diversity at the board and C-suite level – meaning that people with varying perspectives on ESG and business can share their perspectives without fear of retaliation.
- Understand the operational reality of implementing ESG commitments and only make commitments that are directly tied to corporate purpose – and properly understood and resourced.
- Train the communications team on behavioural ethics including how to avoid statements that could be perceived by the public as misleading and to learn how to replace those words with language that might not feel as good but is honest and true.