Blog Post

The importance of communication in sustainability & sustainable strategies

MACK BHATIA

Sustainability, beyond the popularity of the word itself is a business strategy. Companies and organizations can benefit by mapping the objectives of their sustainability strategy with the expectations of the stakeholders – mainly investors and customers. Although a top line plan - this approach has a healthy influence on the bottom-line growth of the company. 


Sustainability communication is an approach to engage your customers and investors in order to showcase your progress on sustainability commitments. It is understood to have a positive influence on the shareholder value when you showcase how you drive business value with ESG & sustainability. Sustainability communication effectively engages investors, customers or employees as the key stakeholders, and aligns well with the company's overall strategic objectives as defined by the sustainability action plan. Any action plan should define the role of communication in sustainable development . 


A thorough sustainability communication strategy is mandatory to have the desired benefits – both non-material and material. Sustainability communication strategy, like any other strategy, has to start with a data-driven understanding of an audience and the stakeholders. It is imperative that we map out the motivations with messages that resonates. The right mix of communication channels can then accelerate the delivery of these messages and forward. The below illustration explains the concept.


As an example, Institutional investors will look for sustainability (or ESG) factors which are likely to have an impact of a company's financial performance, while a customer will be interested in non-material factors such as sustainable sourcing or sustainable products.  Hence, a thorough sustainability communication strategy is mandatory to have the desired benefits – both non-material and material. 

Accor hotels as an example does this well with its Planet 21 program. Accor’s planet 21 program demonstrates the practice of sustainability communication with a clear articulation of its strategic commitments followed by regular updates on their web channels. Accor also shares the progress using well- formed videos and other digital mediums to articulate their excitement, progress on the commitments and the action plan. The continuous re-iteration of the message forms a positive opinion among the investor audience and its customers.  

More on effective strategies to engage your investors and the well formulated tactics can be seen here at the next blog post (Click here).

ESG and Sustainable communication

One of the most important advantages of sustainability communication is that it helps improve the company’s ESG Rating. ESG factors ( Environmental, Social and Governance factors ) are used to measure the sustainability or ethical impacts of a company. ESG Ratings or an ESG score , in many cases, can act as a tangible indicator of a sustainability performance. 

It is widely used by investors to foresee any financial risks posed by the company’s operational or non-operational activities as it relates to ESG factors. Investors and shareholders are always keen on looking at the company’s ESG score and improvements within. Read more on how ESG Impact and Sustainability communication works together (Click here).

While transparency through media and other channels drives customer retention and affinity, sustainability communication impacts the shareholder value. 

Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Champions / Sustainability teams

The teams that manage Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Sustainability programs are a very important vertical in any organization. Apart from the many benefits that the CSR or Sustainability teams brings in - management of reputation risks is a very important responsibility of CSR professionals. ESG Scores, among many signals, also looks at a company's sustainability profile (including any CSR program). Since CSR / Sustainability teams are heavily involved, we believe these teams can positively influence the company's ESG score.

Investors and customers regularly look for indicators to gather confidence in company’s progress towards their sustainability commitments. Hence, well-formed communication efforts are impactful when engaging with your stakeholders. A well-funded CSR/Sustainability teams can be dedicated to (or with a help of a dedicated partner such as us) activate channels for access to capital through investor (sustainable investing) out-reach.

Know more about ESG communication services or connect with us through the form below. 

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