How do you communicate your sustainability performance and progress to your stakeholders?

To communicate your sustainability performance and progress to your stakeholders requires transparency, clarity, and engagement. I have to identify tailored reports and customize it to address the specific interests of various stakeholders. To present complex data clearly, I would use visual dashboards that highlight key metrics, such as energy savings, carbon emissions reductions, or waste diversion rates.This multi-channel approach ensures that sustainability communication is clear, meaningful, and aligned with stakeholder expectations.

It seems to me that conflating Shareholder and Stakeholder interests is an obvious issue. Investors (shareholders) looking for opportunities to park and grow capital want to ensure that the entity enticing them takes their fiduciary responsibility to them seriously. If I am operating a coffee shop and have sourced product from reputable growers, shipped/wrapped in paper and cardboard, ground in house( no coffee pods) and served in ceramic, glass or paper(all recycled) I am staying true to my shareholders in offering an excellent product while demonstrating my commitment to sustainability on several fronts without saying or advertising - walk the talk.

Understanding stakeholders is crucial for effective sustainability communication. Identifying who they are and what they care about allows us to tailor our message to their interests and needs. For example, customers might focus on the environmental or social impact of our products, while investors may be interested in how we manage sustainability risks and opportunities. By addressing these different perspectives, we can create a more engaging and relevant sustainability communication strategy. This approach helps build trust and strengthens our relationship with stakeholders.

An example of effective communication is to tailor advertising/product demonstration to age demographics including timing - in using the coffee example - a sporting event or venue is excellent - you are able to capture every demographic especially before noon - coffee drinkers in every age category in attendance - 1st cup reduced price, perhaps cost recovery, 2nd cup free - it’s a great way to take your product to where coffee drinkers are if they can’t come to you - with a great cup of coffee and service, your shop will be sought out when those folks do have time to stop and/or share a coffee A retirement community is another great venue - meals are structured, therefore most residents are at breakfast and love morning coffee.

Regulatory proposals in the European Union and the United States outline specific criteria of what can be considered a valid sustainability claim. Ensure that your communications align with these proposed controls in order to manage reputational risk over time and ensure compliance with developing global standards.

An example of being transparent would be to take a business trip and actually visit the actually entity that is supplying your product and document your actions in pictures thereby demonstrating your commitment to a superior product that is grown and harvested sustainably and providing a win/win on both sides if supply chain

One trusted approach is to develop a dynamic plan for regular comms with stakeholders - to keep momentum and retain interest you might want to look at known future activity that could complement your messaging and place it in a wider context with deeper meaning - this activity could be at a corporate level or nationally. Make the links and promote your place in the sustainability ‘community’. Position your message as aligned with others.