How do you share your climate change leadership with stakeholders?

An example of this could be an energy company. When communicating with customers, emphasizing how their products contribute to environmental conservation aligns with the customers' desire to reduce their own environmental impact. With investors, highlighting robust climate risk management demonstrates commitment to long-term sustainability, addressing their financial concerns. For employees, conveying ways they can actively participate in the company's climate action fosters a sense of purpose and involvement. Tailoring messages to meet stakeholders' specific needs ensures a more impactful and inclusive climate change agenda :)

In my experience, knowing your stakeholders is crucial for impactful climate change communication. I've found that tailoring messages to their specific interests yields the best engagement. For instance, when addressing investors, I focus on climate risk management and opportunities for sustainable growth. With employees, it's about how their roles contribute to our climate goals. This approach ensures that everyone, from customers to partners, understands and aligns with our environmental objectives, creating a unified front in tackling climate change.

Stakeholder mapping can help you identify who your key stakeholders are and what they care about, as well as how to communicate to them. If you do this at the start of any climate change related project or reporting, it makes it easier to gather the data, plan your messaging and then tailor it to each stakeholder group.

In my experience the best way to share my climate change leadership is to tell the story of my journey. We all grew up been told stories by our parents, and by our teachers. By reading books and watching movies, all of this is storytelling. Stakeholders respond best to hearing your story / journey to climate change leadership. Be authentic and avoid been boastful. Highlight the challenges and give tips where possible. Listen to your stakeholders concerns and offer advise where you can assist. Remember the journey for any business to carbon neutrality is a long one, it will take years, there are no quick fixes. Thru leadership you build over time.

Define your audience, including customers, employees, investors, communities, and regulators. Each group has different priorities and interests regarding climate change. Tailor your message: Craft specific messages that resonate with each stakeholder group.

Defining clear objectives is crucial for aligning stakeholders in climate change leadership. It helps create a shared vision, guides targeted actions, and enhances accountability, encouraging active engagement and participation. Clear goals also allow for adaptability in response to changing circumstances, building trust and confidence among stakeholders. Additionally, well-defined objectives facilitate efficient resource allocation, ensuring efforts are focused where they can have the most significant impact. Ultimately, setting clear objectives fosters a collaborative approach to combating climate change, leveraging the collective strengths and resources of all involved for maximum effectiveness.

Setting clear, specific objectives is essential in climate change communication. In my role, I ensure that our sustainability goals are not just aspirational but measurable and aligned with our broader corporate strategy. This clarity helps stakeholders understand the tangible benefits of our initiatives, whether it's risk mitigation or long-term financial gains. By highlighting specific actions and outcomes, we not only showcase our progress but also foster accountability and inspire others to follow suit in their sustainability journey.

In my experience, having clear climate goals and action plans are critical to what you can communicate on your company's journey to net-zero emissions by 2050, for example. However, being completely transparent also adds authenticity and credibility. It's ok to not have all of the answers, and communicating that message to build trust with all of your stakeholders.

Choosing the right channels to communicate our climate agenda is a strategic decision. From my experience, diversifying these channels is key. We use social media for broader engagement, while detailed reports are for investors who seek in-depth analysis. Interactive webinars and workshops have proven effective for engaging with our employees and partners. Each channel serves a unique purpose, ensuring our message reaches the intended audience effectively. This multi-channel approach ensures comprehensive coverage and maximizes stakeholder engagement.

Key formal avenues include Sustainability Reports: Publish annual or periodic sustainability reports that detail your organization's climate initiatives, achievements, and future goals. Share these reports on your website or through targeted email campaigns. Corporate Website: Create a dedicated section on your corporate website for sustainability and climate action. Regularly update it with news, progress reports, and relevant information. Newsletters: Send out newsletters to stakeholders, including customers, investors, and employees, featuring updates on climate change efforts, achievements, and upcoming initiatives.

Choosing your channels is important because so much of sustainability leadership is collaboration and advocacy. Each stakeholder will require a different channel and some may require visual whereas others will require written reports or statistics. Crafting a high level story can help ensure your messaging is aligned (and an executive dashboard for impact with it); and then you can create deeper articles, reports, or events to deep dive into specific topics depending on the recipient.

We gained best results by using different communication regarding the target stakeholder, and regarding their previous knowledge. Make a deep, long report and then shorten it in 2-3 versions, the last should only hold the results in simple words. Therefore, it is well understood by all stakeholders and nobody is overwhelmed or under-informed.

Also important to make the stories relate to your users, for example saying X tons of carbon reduced is less impactful than saying X T-shirts didn’t end up in the landfill, this makes it more real for the end user and helps put your actions in context!

To talk about your work on climate change, the key is to tell engaging stories that connect with people. These stories should be true to what your company stands for and easy for everyone to understand, using straightforward language and visuals. Highlight how these efforts are more than just the right thing to do; they're also smart for your business. For example, by taking action on climate change, your company may save money in the long run.

Crucially your stories should be about the people or the systems that benefit from your climate change leadership, including your stakeholders. If you really want to engage people on this issue then make your storytelling about them, not you.

Merely labeling a product or service as "sustainable" is no longer sufficient. Customers now expect to see how sustainability aligns with the brand's values, integrity, and proactive approach. How can you effectively link your sustainability initiatives to your overarching purpose, rather than merely being recognized for offering "good" products? The answer lies in storytelling. As organizations, storytelling allows us to invite others into our world, evoking direct, emotional connections. Compelling narratives foster empathy, inspire individuals to care about issues beyond themselves. Through impactful storytelling, we can cultivate emotional bonds with customers, employees, investors, driving a deeper connection with brand or business.

It is important to keep channels of communication open for stakeholders to provide feedback. One way of doing so is creating feedback loops and communicating how the feedback is being incorporated into decision-making processes. An important skill to hone will be active listening as often underlying motivations and sentiments might not be apparent. Lastly, appreciating the value that diversity brings in developing comprehensive solutions and identifying potential blind spots.

Encourage open dialogue with stakeholders. Actively seek feedback on your climate change initiatives and communication efforts. Engage in constructive conversations, address concerns, and incorporate stakeholder input into your strategies. This fosters a sense of collaboration and shared responsibility.

Communicate regularly: Don't just share your climate change leadership during significant events or campaigns. Integrate it into your ongoing communication and brand narrative. Show long-term commitment: Demonstrate your unwavering commitment to climate change action through consistent efforts and continuous improvement over time.

The key to doing this successfully is transparency. This means having an authentic and open conversation with your consumers, so they understand exactly who you are, where you've come from, and where you're going. This sense of transparency isn't just an add-on either. A global study revealed that two-thirds of consumers make decisions about what to buy based on companies transparency.

Examples of effective communication: Patagonia's "Don't Buy This Jacket" campaign: This campaign urged consumers to consider the environmental impact of their purchases, highlighting Patagonia's commitment to sustainable practices. Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan: This plan outlines the company's ambitious goals for environmental and social responsibility, including climate change action, and shares regular progress updates. City of Copenhagen's "Copenhagen Carbon Neutral 2025" initiative: This initiative actively engages citizens and stakeholders in the city's climate action plan, fostering collaboration and a sense of shared responsibility.