The Climate Of Business #101: 5 key steps to communicating your sustainability strategy

Climate Change Reality

• Deadly, humid heat could creep into US Midwest and Australia (Euronews )
• Rishi Sunak’s net zero rollback risks raising household bills, warns climate adviser (Financial Times )
• IOC concern over threat of climate change to snow sports (BBC )
• The world’s largest offshore wind farm produces its first power (CNBC )

• Global water cycles are ‘spinning out of balance’, weather agency reports (Financial Times )
• Winter heatwaves in South America driven by human emissions (Euronews )
• Climate change could make beer taste worse (BBC )
• Antarctica has lost 7.5tn tonnes of ice since 1997, scientists find (The Guardian )
• Hydro Dams Are Struggling to Handle the World’s Intensifying Weather (WIRED )
• This floating Amazon village has been ‘isolated’ by severe drought (Euronews )

Business Climate Reality

• The World Bank has had enough of billion euro fossil fuel subsidies (Euronews )
• Cocoa farmers face mounting challenges as El Nino rages on (CNBC )
• Warning AI could use as much energy as Netherlands (BBC )
• Fear of reprisals prevent people calling out employers on climate, says charity (The Guardian )
• Fossil fuel companies among winners of $7bn in US green funding (Financial Times )
• The EU Just Kicked Off Its Biggest Climate Experiment Yet (WIRED )

• 'Funding will depend on fighting climate crisis' - Sport England (BBC )
• Climate change the ‘most common’ reason for portfolio exclusion (Financial Times )
• California to require big firms to reveal carbon emissions in first law of its kind (The Guardian )
• DOJ sues eBay for selling ‘rolling coal’ devices; fines could hit $2 billion (CNBC )

Reality Check

As sustainability continues to transcend from a desirable attribute to a core business imperative, internal and external stakeholders (i.e. investors, employees, and consumers) are increasingly placing pressure on corporations to exert environmental responsibility. As such, the development and implementation of a comprehensive sustainability strategy is crucial.?Yet, it is equally as important to be able to communicate that strategy effectively.

The major challenge that businesses around the globe face is identifying when and how to communicate progress on sustainability endeavours. While some companies prefer to remain silent until substantial results are achieved, others involve their community, clients, and employees in every step of their journey, acknowledging that perfection is a constant pursuit. Nevertheless, as businesses across all industries strive to avoid the perils of greenwashing , the trend leans towards transparency and openness, encouraged by either legislation or competitive differentiation.

Accordingly, this week's newsletter will dive into how businesses can effectively communicate their sustainability strategy by using responsible communication, fostering transparency, and engaging stakeholders.

The core principles of responsible sustainability communications

Responsible communication is the basis of any effective and aligned sustainability strategy. Responsible communication is more than just sharing updates; it's about fostering transparency and authenticity in your interactions. It also implies delivering clear, accurate, and consistent information, demonstrating your commitment to environmental stewardship.?

• Transparency: In line with ADEME 's guidelines for responsible communication, transparency lies at the heart of responsible communication. Transparency extends beyond the sharing of success stories. It means being open about the challenges faced, areas needing improvement, and even failures. The more open a business is about its sustainability journey - the good and the bad - the more credibility it gains in the eyes of stakeholders.

• Accuracy: Accuracy is a fundamental requirement to responsible communication and the credibility of a company's sustainability strategy. It's crucial to ensure the information shared about sustainability initiatives is factually correct, comprehensible, and avoids greenwashing .?

• Consistency: Consistency in communication is vital. Regular updates on sustainability efforts ensure stakeholders remain informed and engaged. Consistency also means maintaining alignment between words and actions, reinforcing the authenticity of a company's commitment to sustainability. Bringing these principles to life within an organisation requires a culture that values openness, embraces feedback, and commits to ongoing learning and improvement.?

By fostering responsible communication via the principles of transparency, accuracy and consistency, businesses can not only drive their sustainability agenda forward but also build a reputation as a responsible and trustworthy, sustainable entity in the eyes of their stakeholders.?

5 key steps to effectively communicating your sustainability strategy

1. Set clear and quantifiable goals: Any effective sustainability strategy must have clear, quantifiable, and time-bound goals. This structure is critical to not only internal execution, but also to creating a measurable framework that can be shared with external stakeholders. These goals should be grounded in scientific rigour , with a dedication to evidence, transparency, and accessibility.
2. Identify key stakeholders: It is critical that businesses who wish to ensure alignment within their communication identify who their key stakeholders are and what their sustainability expectations might be. It is also important to understand the value of the actions of these stakeholders towards sustainable lifestyles; such as the sustainable values of customers, employees, investors, or even the wider community. Accordingly, a study by the MIT Sloan Management Review found that 88% of executives agreed that stakeholder engagement was important to their sustainability strategy.?

1. Customise communication across stakeholder groups: Each stakeholder group will have unique interests and expectations regarding your sustainability efforts. Therefore, your communication strategy should be tailored to resonate with each stakeholder group. The importance of customising communications is exemplified within a 2023 study by Nielsen that found that 74% of Millennials and Gen Z are willing to pay more for sustainable goods. Such findings ultimately demonstrates that emphasising sustainability in consumer communication can positively impact sales among these demographics.

1. Regularly update stakeholders: Business leaders must periodically inform stakeholders on sustainability progress. Businesses must be open about their challenges and successes whilst seeking continuous improvement. For instance, Ganni , a Danish clothing brand, publishes annual sustainability reports, giving its stakeholders an authentic view of their journey.

1. Seek feedback: Businesses must actively engage with stakeholders and seek their feedback on all things pertaining to their sustainability strategy and communications. This interactive approach will not only keep them involved but can also provide valuable insights and support sustainable change on a broader scale. Businesses that incorporate stakeholder perspectives into their strategies were found to 26% more likely to outperform their industry peers on profitability , underlining the potential value of stakeholder feedback.?

For a comprehensive guide to managing your stakeholders in the net-zero transition, read here.?

Leverage the power of digital platforms (e.g. sustainability software)

As digitalisation continues to define the global economy, a myriad of platforms are becoming available to businesses that enable them to undergo and communicate upon their sustainable transformation; allowing them to ascertain a competitive advantage. Businesses can use digital platforms such as websites, social media channels, newsletters,webinars, and podcasts to effectively reach out and deeply engage with diverse stakeholder groups.?

Another leading resource in this regard is Plan A's Sustainability Platform . Plan A offers a powerful tool that aids businesses to communicate their sustainability strategies. The platform is filled with resources and guides that businesses can use to communicate their sustainability strategy responsibly. These guides shed light on new initiatives and address challenges in the sustainability journey , thereby fostering a sense of community among users. The platform also provides relevant data and insights, which can significantly enhance the effectiveness of communication strategies. Notably, the comprehensive sustainability platform offers carbon accounting and decarbonisation tools, such as corporate carbon footprint (CCF) calculators , decarbonisation target setting and reduction strategies .?

Book a demo today to explore Plan A’s one-stop solution for your entire sustainability journey.

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