One in four companies quietly shelving progress on net-zero pledges [Unpublished]

A trend known as “green hushing” is growing as companies are increasingly choosing not to publicise details of their climate targets in an attempt to avoid scrutiny and allegations of greenwashing, a new study showed.

A quarter of companies that set targets to meet their net-zero commitments are quietly shelving reports about their progress in a process known as ‘green-hushing’, according to a study.

This was despite the proportion of respondents setting science-based targets that had more than tripled from the previous year to 72 per cent.

A report by climate analysts South Pole found that an increasing number of climate-aware companies are supporting their net-zero commitments with science-based targets, yet one in four does not plan to talk about them.

Doing so makes corporate climate targets harder to scrutinise and limits knowledge-sharing on decarbonisation, researchers claim, potentially leading to less ambitious targets being set and missed opportunities for industries to collaborate.

"We see that sustainability-minded businesses are increasingly backing up their targets with science-based emissions reduction milestones, which is absolutely the right approach.

“But 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 mind blowing. 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," says Renat Heuberger, CEO of South Pole.

South Pole’s findings suggest companies are continuing to set net-zero targets and increasing budgets to support them, yet this reluctance to publicise science-aligned climate targets raises questions.

Dan Botterill, founder and CEO of sustainability platform Rio, described the green-hushing phenomenon as “just as duplicitous and cynical as greenwashing”.

“But in the same way consumers are beginning to identify companies that use advertising and social media to appear more climate-friendly and environmentally sustainable than they really are, they will become aware of businesses that hide their climate impact,” he added. “This might lead to boycotts and reputation damage.”

“Sustainability is hard and companies can be forgiven for struggling to meet their climate goals, particularly in these unstable economic times.

“But hiding the results of climate reporting is short-sighted. It is better to identify weaknesses, be open about it and then pledge to do better.”

You can read the full article from The Independent here.

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We are committed to promoting transparency and accountability with regard to sustainability and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), as well as auditability and independent verification to ensure the accuracy of information entering the public domain.

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Because their requirements aren't as stringent as those for public equity and companies, private equity firms often lack reporting on ESG and have been criticised for lack of transparency.

“When you put AI in the content of sustainability analytics it can be highly useful from a compliance perspective,” said Dan Botterill of Rio ESG. “Technology enables transparency and helps to force companies to change. As a company can see its supply chain, so consumers can see how companies are behaving. They can pressure companies to drive change, pressure leadership, push from bottom up."