ESG Communications: Key issues and clarifying your impact

ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) communication has quietly become one of the hardest areas for organisations to get right. Regulation is accelerating, scrutiny around greenwashing is intense, and wider political and economic uncertainty is making both decisions and messaging more difficult. Some organisations worry they can't meet expectations. Others worry that whatever they say will be challenged. Earth Day 2026, with its theme ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ is a useful moment to look at why that is, and what good ESG communication actually looks like.

The underlying idea isn't new. Running a business in a way that considers people and the planet as well as profit can be traced back to the 18th and 19th century Quaker movement, which avoided trades linked to slavery, alcohol and tobacco. ‘ESG’ took hold as a term in the early 2000s, materiality and risk frameworks matured in the 2010s, and regulation is catching up in the 2020s. What's changed most recently is the environment around it. Volatility is increasingly seen as the new normal and shifting rules, such as CSRD and related Omnibus proposals, have raised real questions about what needs to be reported and when.

This is where communication becomes critical. What you say about ESG can influence trust, investment decisions, customer choices, and employee confidence. It can also shape internal decisions because clear reporting forces clarity on priorities, progress and internal buy-in.

In practice, many organisations don’t set out to mislead but their ESG messaging can still become misaligned with reality. Common issues include:

• highlighting only the ‘best’ metrics
• focusing on easy wins instead of the most meaningful impacts (often in supply chains)
• publishing targets with no baseline or clear plan behind them
• overclaiming and describing progress in ways that can’t be backed up (Greenwashing)

While mistakes can happen, organisations still have a responsibility to communicate accurately and fairly, and there are several further ‘green’ behaviours that can damage credibility, including:

• Greenhushing: Intentionally saying very little (or nothing) about ESG work to avoid questions or scrutiny.
• Greenrinsing: Changing targets, timelines, or reported results before they can be properly examined.
• Greenlighting: Spotlighting a small ‘green’ initiative to distract from wider, more harmful impacts.

These terms (and expectations) continue to evolve, so organisations need to keep pace.

Despite the challenges, ESG remains a practical way to improve how organisations operate and the benefits are real for communities, employees, customers and the environment.

A recent example we were delighted to support was the inaugural launch of the Credit Unions’ annual impact report. It highlights a wide range of community projects supported across the island of Ireland, to the value of €8 million. The report can be read here.

This is a good example of ESG in action and of clear, credible communication. In contrast, an example of poor practice internationally across the ESG landscape would be Volkswagen's

'clean diesel' marketing, which collapsed when emissions testing exposed the reality behind the claims. Overall, strong ESG communication is less about marketing language and more about good management, linking strategy to real actions, using reliable data, and showing the human impact behind the numbers.

A strategic view of communications is paramount, and a simple ESG checklist for any organisation would include the following considerations and elements:

• Start with clarity: Be clear about what your ESG plan is trying to change, who it benefits, and what you are prioritising (and not prioritising) right now.
• Use evidence, not just promises: Share data, real examples and outcomes. Where possible, explain how you measured results.
• Show ownership and governance: Make it clear who is responsible internally, how it links to business strategy, and how progress is reviewed. The same structures applied to areas such as finance or HR should ideally apply to sustainability and reporting.
• Be honest when things don’t work: If a target isn’t met, say so, explain why, and outline what you will do next. If you are using estimates, explain how data quality will improve over time.
• Tailor messages to your audience: Investors may need detailed disclosure information, customers need accurate product claims, and employees need transparency. Map your audiences, understand what they need and how you will say it to them, and have a plan that’s ready if questions arise.

In closing, organisations that treat ESG communication as a discipline, grounded in strategy, evidence and accountability, are the ones most likely to build trust and deliver real, measurable impact.