There's a new trend, being described as "green-hushing", wherein companies have science-based targets in place but do not publicise the progress.
- Climate consultancy South Pole, in the course of a survey, has found that nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1,200 companies it surveyed were doing "green-hushing".
- The report remarked: "This is a concerning trend, as less public-facing communication makes targets harder to scrutinise and limits knowledge-sharing—which in turn could result in missed opportunities for sectors to work together to decarbonise. It could also give the impression that climate leaders are failing to lead, at least in the public eye."
- These have been cited in South Pole's annual report Net Zero and Beyond: A Deep-dive on Climate Leaders and What's Driving Them, released Tuesday.
The Survey: South Pole zeroed in on over 1,200 large organisations across 12 regions with a dedicated sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) lead to look at how proactive companies are moving towards net zero emissions and the challenges they face.
- South Pole engaged market research consultancy Sapio Research to help conduct a survey of 1,220 organisations around the world that have a strong focus on sustainability and more than 1,000 employees.
- The survey, consisting of multiple-choice questions on net zero targets, science-based targets (SBTs), and decarbonisation efforts that climate-aware organisations are undertaking or plan to undertake, was conducted in August 2022 via email invitation to an online survey.
The Overall Findings:
- Corporate sustainability leaders are setting the pace—and an example for others to follow. Among sustainability-minded organisations, more net zero targets are being set than ever before, with more science-based emission reduction targets (SBTs) to back them up, and they’re being led by more ambitious timelines. Even the 67% of the climate-aware companies who themselves identify as heavy emitters are pushing ahead with bold targets, and 13% of all surveyed climate leaders have aggressive plans to meet net zero targets by or before 2024.
- While encouraging, this ambitious target date raises eyebrows and begs the question. Do companies, even those leading the pack, fully appreciate the magnitude of reducing all emissions across their full value chains? Still, regardless of the gloomy economic outlook, nearly three-quarters of surveyed businesses (74%) are investing more—not less—to achieve their targets, despite many (29%) finding the delivery of their net zero strategy more difficult than initially expected. At the same time, it is important to recognise that with the cost of climate inaction growing by the day, 2022 is the cheapest year to get started on net zero.
- New business opportunities and the need to build resilience are driving companies to net zero. Customer demand continues to top the list of reasons for companies to pursue ambitious climate targets, followed closely by the opportunity to build corporate brand leadership on net zero, which is a key driver for 43% of businesses.
On Green-Hushing: The report observed:
- More and more companies are “green-hushing”. The reasons could range from fear of critique to the fact that SBTs are increasingly expected rather than exceptional when it comes to climate action.
- While the exact reasons for the surveyed sustainability-minded organisations holding back remain unclear, this tendency is contrary to South Pole’s own advice to clients, which is to transparently communicate targets and milestones and share lessons learned after making measurable progress on your decarbonisation effort.
- Looking beyond the companies who are becoming more cautious about their climate communications, there are still far too many businesses using empty targets and claims to boost the public perception of their climate progress—effectively participating in greenwashing. This in turn deters honest conversations about how difficult it is to reach net zero, even among those who have made the most progress so far.
What They Said:
If a quarter today aren't coming forward with details on what makes their target credible, could corporate green-hushing be spreading? The speed at which we are overshooting our planetary boundaries is mindblowing. More than ever we need the companies making progress on sustainability to inspire their peers to make a start. This is impossible if progress is happening in silence.
— Renat Heuberger
Chief Executive Officer
South Pole
