Sustainability Communication Trends 2021
We are nearing the end of one of the hottest recorded years, from which we will remember extreme weather in Europe, new levels of emission increases and a long-awaited, yet wildly debated, climate summit in Glasgow. But what marked this year in terms of sustainability communication? Here are five trends and insights from 2021.
1. The unfortunate (?) assignment of responsibility
The question of where the sustainability hat belongs caused an ongoing debate within the branch’s media over the past year. The consistent trend was to question the communications sectors’ right to control these important issues, causing headlines such as The PR people kidnapping the sustainability issue, Sustainability has nothing to do with communication and So many sustainability managers lack the relevant education. However, opinions seems to diverge on whether communication people are voluntarily or reluctantly assigned these positions. One who most likely understood the impact of her new role is Sweden’s new Minister of Climate and Environment, Annika Strandhäll. It took the media about five minutes to come up with their first question: "Are you employed because of your communication skills?".
2. The responsibility of the communicator (and the power of the brief)
The sustainability issue must of course be owned and managed by people with the mandate to change and develop core business. But these important matters also deserve the best communication, something we emphasized in the column Why communication people should care about the climate meeting COP26. If we succeed in understanding how our customers' operations can fit into the transition, we will not only make our customers and ourselves better equipped for the future, we will also contribute to solving our common societal challenges. And in a world on fire, isn’t that our most urgent brief?
On that note, Maria Starck from Futerra pointed out the potential and Resilience of the counter-briefs. On the agency side, we need to act as gatekeepers to help our clients achieve their sustainability goals. Dare to be on the uncomfortable side of the table, asking questions like: “Is there a purpose with this project that will lead to something greater than increased profits for the company?".
3. Sustainability as a measure of brand value
The supply and demand of sustainable products and services will for sure continue to grow, partly due to companies increasingly protecting their brand. The conscious consumer is here to stay, which affects everything from our preferences in the grocery store to our choice of employer. The heading "Sweden's Most Sustainable Brands" popped up frequently in 2021, and we have seen a plethora of new brand surveys within sustainability.
The ruling European champion of surveys is the Sustainable Brand Index, which stated that Coop is perceived as Sweden's most sustainable B2C brand in 2021, closely followed by the former champion IKEA. According to the study, it was the focus on Swedish food, a wide ecological and healthy food range together with the handling of the pandemic that made Coop win the Swedes' trust. And as far as we know, these surveys still measure perception rather than actual sustainability work.
4. Fear of communicating sustainability because of risk of being called a greenwasher
Brands that are not perceived as sustainable are exposed to a higher risk of being criticized and ultimately boycotted. In Sustainability Focus 2021, The New Division maps how Swedish companies view their sustainability work, and what opportunities and risks they experience linked to it. Almost 90% of the 90 companies surveyed believe that an unsustainable business model can harm the brand. Almost half stated that their communications department mainly runs the sustainability work, partly due to the fear of greenwashing scandals that can have devastating consequences for a company's reputation. Perhaps, it may not be a coincidence that "PR people" are handed the responsibility after all. These knights in hipster glasses are at least trained to identify the gaps between communication and actual action. Which can actually take you a long way.
5. Blah, blah, blah
These frequently quoted words originate from the Youth4Climate summit in Milan in September, where Greta Thunberg sarcastically summarized her opinion of the world leaders' attempts to solve the climate crisis. A saying that most people will remember from the year of sustainability in 2021. Copywriters may turn in their graves, but Greta's words are our law.