[Opinion] How to communicate sustainability

Today, there are companies committed to sustainability, but few are truly sustainable: they invest in projects to reduce emissions and risks, improve their ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) practices, and have begun to communicate these efforts to their consumers and investors. This change is not a coincidence; it is a response to the growing importance that companies themselves, society and the media are giving to the issue. According to GreenBIZ, mainstream media are becoming increasingly interested in sustainability and climate technology.

However, despite these advances, most companies are not communicating sustainability effectively and the media generate little content on sustainability issues compared to other topics. A recent study by Libélula (2023) reveals that there is a significant gap between the amount of sustainability news (just 2% of total news focuses on climate change) and audience interest (between 42% and 52% in Latin America, one of the highest globally, according to the Reuters Institute and Oxford University). 

Herein lies an opportunity we cannot overlook: improving our sustainability communication can help us reach more audiences. What are we doing and how can we do it better? 

First, our communication is often too technical. Messages are full of jargon and terms that the general public does not understand, and it generates little understanding of what companies are doing and why it is important.

Second, corporate announcements on sustainability issues often lack context. that can help the reader, This is because companies generally focus on the positive aspects of their sustainability efforts, without providing information on the challenges they face or the commitments to which they are responding. 

Third, sustainability communication is focused on the company, on its own achievements, but does not explain how its efforts benefit consumers, investors and society in general, making the communication less attractive and less persuasive.

And finally, sustainability communication is infrequent. Companies issue press releases about their sustainability efforts, but rarely talk about them on other channels, such as their websites or social media. This makes it difficult for people to keep up with companies' sustainability efforts.

If we aspire for our actions to generate significant impact, inspire others and scale beyond our own companies and stakeholders, we must improve our communication in this regard. Simplifying our language, providing context, highlighting benefits, partnering with the media and maintaining constant communication are essential steps.