Greenhushing: Should companies speak up or shut up?
The latest sustainability meme has to do with companies saying too little about their sustainability commitments and achievements.
Yes, you read that right. Welcome to the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't world of sustainability communications.
A relatively new term, "greenhushing"
— which refers to companies under-communicating their sustainability activities — is showing up in a lot of places, at least on the internet, that great playground of dubious ideas and opinions. Whether it proves to be yet another short-lived phenomenon (see: "plastic-washing") or the next trouble spot for companies is unclear.
But one thing is certain: Companies need to pay attention.
Welcome to the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't world of sustainability communications.
The rise of the greenhushing meme got some heft recently with the publication of a report by the sustainability consultancy South Pole. The report, which surveyed "over 1,200 global executives to understand what drives their big climate commitments,” unearthed “a surprising trend”: Nearly a quarter of those surveyed say they do not plan to publicize their science-based net-zero emissions reduction targets "beyond the bare minimum or as required."
"This is concerning," the authors concluded. "More than ever, we need those making headway on sustainability targets to inspire others to make a start, to help shift mindsets and then behaviors."
The rise of the greenhushing meme got some heft recently with the publication of a report by the sustainability consultancy South Pole. The report, which surveyed "over 1,200 global executives to understand what drives their big climate commitments,” unearthed “a surprising trend”: Nearly a quarter of those surveyed say they do not plan to publicize their science-based net-zero emissions reduction targets "beyond the bare minimum or as required."
"This is concerning," the authors concluded. "More than ever, we need those making headway on sustainability targets to inspire others to make a start, to help shift mindsets and then behaviors."
No doubt. And therein lies a treacherous landscape for companies.
Greenhushing is the obvious counterpart to greenwashing, a term coined by Greenpeace in the early 1990s to describe "cynical, superficial, public relations marketing" aimed at projecting a false environmental corporate image. The term has become so broadly applied that it can be hurled against just about anything and anyone. The threat of being labeled a greenwasher has become so worrisome that many companies lay low when it comes to sustainability communications, keeping their corporate heads below the parapet lest they suffer the slings and arrows of critics.
