by Janet Hitchen:

An article in the FT last week got me thinking, what does Greenlash mean for Communication professionals?

Greenlash is new. It describes the backlash that happened in 2024 as some companies stepped back from their sustainability commitments, downgraded their plans and squeezed their Sustainability teams as inflation and pay took centre stage.

The underlying message seems to be “Ooops we got over excited after the Paris Agreement and we weren’t expecting a challenging financial backdrop, inflationary pressures and global political upheaval. Now we need to course correct.”

Was anyone scenario planning? Seems not with this collective ‘caught with their pants down moment’.

The WEF (World Economic Forum) gave us its risk predictions in 2024. Extreme weather is at #2 for the short term (2 years) and most tellingly, the top 4 risks for the long term (10 years) are ALL climate related: extreme weather topping the list followed by critical changes to Earth’s systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse and, natural resource shortages).

So let’s bring this back to Communication teams and what this means?

What does this mean for your narrative, your messaging and strategy?

What does it mean for your people and their understanding of what the company does, how that affects the planet and how they can get involved?

Here’s a few ideas of what you can do/not do to help navigate the latest twists and turns on the sustainability rollercoaster.

1. Don’t overreact. Don’t panic. Don’t change everything. Your narrative may still be exactly what you need BUT what may change is how you bring that to life. So yes, review and have those discussions but don’t leap to make changes that may not be necessary. Check your narrative is fit for purpose, confirm with your ESG partners and move on.
2. Ground your work in the data and insights. ESG reporting was made stronger in 2024. In theory, this means less chance of greenwash and bullshit. Also it means you have more reliable data and insights that are held to internationally recognised standards and actually mean something. This is very helpful as you can talk about your achievements/areas for improvement in context and not veer into greenwashing internally.
3. Create solid foundations. On the back of #2, consider how the data can help make your narrative and messaging stronger. How can data and insights be used to create solid foundations for your storytelling? We know that data alone isn’t what builds momentum and engages but it’s a great place to start.
4. Partner with the Sustainability team. Create a process that is proactive, planned and works for both teams. As reporting becomes standardised, work with your sustainability team to understand what they are producing, and when so you can use their outputs (data, insights, reporting analysis) as your inputs (information you need to understand about the business to help you connect the dots and create a clear narrative). Create a simple process with your business partners. Knowing when you can count on their inputs is very helpful as you plan your cadence (annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily) and your business partner processes. There is no need for this to be reactive at all.
5. Lean into employee listening and engagement. Making sure everyone understands what the company is doing, why and how is your baseline. Listening to check for understanding, gaps and misunderstandings is vital so you can course correct quickly and efficiently. Look for ways to involve your people. How can you capitalise on their ideas and feed these to the C-suite? If you want to create advocates for your business – give them something to be proud of and that they can want to shout about.
6. Use this to drive engagement. A lot has been written over the past few years about sustainability and employee engagement. According to Culture Amp, companies in which employees felt a genuine commitment to sustainability had a 16% higher employee engagement rate than those where employees felt the commitment was absent. (HR Magazine, April 2024).  And the Institute of Sustainability Studies reported that a Gallup survey shows that 79% of employees feel engaged in the workplace, yet many don’t know how to apply their company’s sustainability strategy to their daily work. THIS IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY. HUGE.

I have loads more ideas on how to get started with this work. I urge you to be proactive, be planned and connect the dots for your teams.

Want help doing this? I can help and I love this kind of work.

Give me a shout, drop me a DM or an email to janet@janco.uk

Additional reading:

Despite 2024’s ‘greenlash’, the fight against climate breakdown can still be won. Here’s how: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/06/2024-greenlash-climate-breakdown-europeans-climate-action

Year in a Word: Greenlash: https://ftedit.ft.com/Ju3k/3d2r0ah4

Commitment to sustainability boosts employee engagement: https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/news/commitment-to-sustainability-boosts-employee-engagement/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Employee sustainability engagement: A cheat sheet: https://instituteofsustainabilitystudies.com/insights/lexicon/employee-sustainability-engagement-a-cheat-sheet/?utm_source=chatgpt.com