Sustainability communication is much more than an ESG report. It should engage all stakeholders - customers, employees and the wider community - to build awareness and support for the company's sustainability efforts, and be delivered in a transparent and tailored way. Not only external, but also internal communication, sharing concrete initiatives and progress on the sustainability roadmap, is under increasing scrutiny.

Create the narrative:

Develop a clear, concise, and consistent message about the company's sustainability efforts that can be used in all communications, reports, and marketing materials. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the company's sustainability communications and marketing efforts and make changes as needed to improve impact.

Communicate transparently:

Greenwashing can be defined as creating a false impression or providing misleading information to show that an organisation's products or services are good for the environment, or at least better than competitors. In essence, it is when a company or organisation spends more time and money marketing itself as sustainable than actually minimising its environmental impact. Companies sometimes engage in greenwashing because it helps them to be seen as ethical, which in turn helps their profitability, or they simply don't know they're doing it. Greenwashing is a threat to business because of the reputational risk it can cause, but even more so now that regulation is increasing, with the EU voting to "ban greenwashing and improve consumer information on product durability".

Transparency plays a key role in avoiding misleading advertising and/or ignorance. To minimise the risk of greenwashing, it can be helpful to identify the green credentials of products and create a process to regularly identify, monitor and manage them. If you have communicated incorrectly (e.g. in the facts and figures of the sustainability report), it's a good idea to make corrections.

Industry guidelines for sustainable communications can be found on the PRCA APAC Sustainability Working Group website.

Internal communications:

An effective internal communication strategy is essential to strengthen the culture of sustainability among employees and build morale and trust. Employee understanding of the sustainability strategy is a prerequisite for employee engagement and the integration of sustainable practices into day-to-day operations.