Three reasons you should be telling your sustainability story right now

As I write this, the number of people presumed dead due to the flash floods in Texas on July 4 keeps rising. I’m haunted by the knowledge that little girls who should have been safely sleeping in their camp cabins were instead drowned and swept away. My heart aches for their parents. 

And my heart breaks that this is our new normal. 

As bad as the last year has been — devastating wildfires in California, hurricane flood waters surging through western North Carolina and Italy, extreme heat and drought throughout Europe and elsewhere — we may one day remember it as mild. And we may remember the term “sustainability” as cute when we’re instead trying to manifest resiliency. 

Despite the instincts of many of our politicians to downplay the reality, and label action on climate as part of a “woke” agenda, our Pulse studies show that regular people are very concerned. In fact, last year we saw the highest level of agreement in the U.S. with the statement, “climate change is occurring and caused by human activity” in 16 years of asking the question (68% agree in the U.S.; 85% agree worldwide). And 76% of people with kids rate themselves as feeling “anxious to very anxious” about the impacts of climate change in their kids’ lifetimes. 

Those “regular people” are consumers, customers, employees, potential employees and investors. They are concerned about climate change and looking to companies to take action. But if you don’t tell them what your organization is doing — if you don’t have a sustainability communications program — they won’t be able to give you credit for it.  

In short: you should be communicating now, more than ever, about your efforts for the environment, your work to protect people and communities, and your actions to stay a viable business. Now is NOT the time for greenhushing. Consider this: 

1. People expect companies to address our climate and waste crises — and communicate about it. 72% of people around the world in our latest surveying said they are “very to extremely” interested in hearing from companies about their efforts to reduce GHG emissions, and 80% said knowing a company is a leader in reducing GHG emissions improved their opinion of the company. In this moment, with climate events piling up, people are looking for action. They’re looking for hope. They’re looking for heroes. People won’t know your company is an action-taking hero, and they won’t know to feel inspired by your brand if you don’t communicate about it.
2. Investors are risk averse — and climate change is a big risk. There’s a great piece by Trellis about how the pushback on ESG is actually favorably shaping company approaches to ESG. Instead of talking about sustainability like it’s this altruistic, philanthropic, hop on the bandwagon thing, companies are getting focused on how their actions for people and the planet actually drive business value, which is how companies should have been thinking about it all along. A world experiencing devastating climate events is a world where companies’ supply chains are upended, where factories are suddenly rendered unusable, where inventory in warehouses is wiped out, and where workers can’t come to work (or have disappeared entirely). Companies that figure out back-ups to the unimaginable — in short, companies that pursue a resiliency strategy — will be better positioned to recover and protect their bottom lines. Companies that innovate and completely reimagine products, services and the supply chains that support them will thrive. Investors are well aware of all this. But they won’t know where your company stands if you don’t communicate about it.

3. History proves companies that increase advertising through economic downturns come out light years ahead of their competitors. Here’s a well annotated article on this, but if you search online, you’ll find dozens more case studies. Yet, when companies worry about the economy, the first reaction by some is to cut ad spend. Don’t do it. If you have a strong sustainability value proposition — at the corporate or product level — lean into that hard right now with a marketing plan that positions you for a competitive advantage, and an advertising and comms plan that appeals to your core audiences.  

Now is the time for action — and communication.