Sustainability is often framed as a technical or operational challenge – but I believe that in most mid-sized businesses, the biggest barrier isn’t technology but communication.

Good communication is essential when investing in and implementing sustainability initiatives. It can create competitive advantage, strengthen governance and demonstrate responsible business practice. It informs key stakeholders, builds trust and reputation, and influences wider change beyond the organisation’s own actions. Yet amid today’s focus on sustainability storytelling – and the fear of greenwashing or green-hushing – we risk overlooking the communication that actually enables progress in the first place.

We communicate with our clients more than our staff

Most businesses communicate well with clients and investors because commercial success depends on it. But many struggle to communicate with other key stakeholders – employees, suppliers, communities and anyone who could impact the sustainability strategy. Understanding their expectations, risks and opportunities is crucial to determining what’s material to the business and its future success.

How do you communicate what needs to change?

Objectives need to be outcome-focused and strategic. Without them, it’s impossible to explain to teams what needs to change. “Reduce Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2021 baseline” provides a clear direction that can be translated into strategies and actions for transport, HR, facilities, operations – and even marketing and sales. “Install LED lighting by 2027” is a task involving a small number of people – useful, but not a strategy – and may or may not deliver the intended outcome.

What do your colleagues need to know to support you?
Sustainability requires organisation-wide engagement. Boards need to understand long-term risks and opportunities, finance needs clarity on investment and returns, and operational teams need to understand why changes matter and how they benefit them. Upskilling and empowering people to support and deliver strategies depends on strong, ongoing internal communication.

This is only the start of the communication challenge – often in mid-sized businesses, sustainability has no clear responsibility making communication harder, gathering good quality evidence to support communications is not always possible, framing sustainability as a value-add rather than a cost provides its own challenges, and we haven’t even mentioned communications and collaborations with supply chains, industry peers, communities and other key stakeholders.

So this is why I think Attenborough was right: saving the planet is a communication challenge – and responsible business is too. While clear communication of a sustainability journey is essential to realise commercial benefits, we also need to give far more attention to the internal and external communication that builds capability, drives change and ultimately creates the story worth telling.

If you is something you could benefit from support in, please give us a shout.