What are the best ways to communicate a company's commitment to environmental responsibility?

When you set targets, it has to be realistic yet ambitious. To do so, alignment and lopping are key factors to ensure the buy in then reaching the set targets.

Make sure it's a realistic map, close to your business strategy and vision. Will you be able to deliver and communicate concrete proof points? Make sure you don't end it up in 'greenwashing' messages.

It’s a great question. Organisations should be aligned with their wider community. The community cares about certain environmental issues and therefore organisations need to align themselves to those issues. I do not believe organisations should be allowed to “pick and choose”. For example, a big corporation that drills for oil should rethink their whole core future business, and look at new technologies to retire old and harmful ones. Small organisation could realistically look at installing solar, better digital practice, reduce emissions by supporting work from home.

> achieve bold ambitions - make environmental goals not incremental improvements but moonshot visions that require innovation across operations, supply chain, products, and business models > empower employees with sustainability - create green teams, volunteer initiatives, and internal education campaigns in priority areas such as renewable energy, circular economy principles and conservation techniques to make all employees ambassadors >> extended influence - facilitate the gathering and steering of industry groups, associations, and policy coalitions to increase environmental standards and articulate the economic case for sustainable progress to influence public opinion > architect solutions - invest in green buildings

It is relevant to define goals and strategy in alignment with existing global initiatives, linking organizational mandate and values, with initiatives. For instance, the Paris Agreement, which establishes specific targets, agreed by global leaders, may be an interesting reference on where to put focus and contribute. Organizations that operate globally may as well act locally depending on Country Specific Goals, in line with the Paris Agreement, generally reflected in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

I agree but want to point out the obvious point of crappy promotional giveaways as a “channel”. This channel has been overdone for far too long and organisations need to modernise and stop printing logos onto cheap plastic products as a “channel” to communicate. Less is more. Digital over paper.

In my opinion, selecting the right channels to communicate your company's commitment to environmental responsibility is crucial. For instance, tools such as corporate website, intranet, social media channels, press coverage, newsletters, events and speaker opportunities are various ways and forms in how a company can articulate and share their sustainability goals and efforts. An annual report that covers sustainability as a focus area also can be utilised to bring out the essence. Choosing the right channels involves understanding your audience demographics, preferences, and where they engage the most. Tailoring your message to fit these channels will maximize the impact of your communication about environmental responsibility.

Incorporating best challenges and lessons learned from previous organizational experiences supports building confidence within networks. Knowledge products help socialize programme or project outcomes and impact.

Stakeholders will be more impressed by organisations that lobby and advocate for real changes. For example, a big four accounting firm that brags about how much they recycle is really shallow and repugnant. A big four accounting firm that drives changes to Supermarkets’ use of plastic packaging is far more impressive.

Sharing concrete proof points might the most important part of your communications strategy. Any stakeholder will ask WHAT you do or have done. Otherwise, your sustainable promises can easily be explained as greenwashing. Share what you've done, what you're doing and what you've planned to do.

Rather than making loud noises about it companies should just be doing it. Otherwise it is just a three ring circus. Too much virtue signalling.

Listening to your stakeholders is not a nice to have. It's a must have and has to always be part of your communications strategy. Too many companies are too internally-focused. Make sure that outside-in view is one of your leading principles when preparing your communications. Because, believe it or not, your company is 'just' a player in a big ecosystem and environment that are constantly influencing each other.

Why would you want to involve external stakeholders? Imagine your company is just starting to look at circular economy solutions, or carbon reduction in your supply chain. You might be wary of appearing an NGO's radar. However, many NGOs and government partners offer decades of experience in the issue you have recently started addressing. They can give you access to specialist knowledge, insights on delivery and, in some cases (such as ecolabels), the credibility of a public partnership. The process of developing the strategy will probably be harder. They will ask some tough questions. But better to have those questions at the beginning in private, than later when a journalist decides to look into your strategy two years down the line.

Involving stakeholders and partners fosters sustainability by creating ownership linked to best practices while co-creating new projects or programmes, in joint collaboration. This approach supports optimizing use of resources invested in common goals.

Professional communicators are used to thinking about and reporting sustainability activities externally to shareholders, investors, and customers. But it is essential to turn these communications efforts inward, too. Repurposing sustainability communications for employees can increase engagement and give them a sense of ownership of the company’s progress. After all, according to a 2022 IBM study about sustainability, 7 in 10 workers say they are more likely to stay with an employer with a good reputation for environmental sustainability. And 3 in 4 expect their employers to take action on social responsibility issues.