“So what does sustainability actually mean to your company?”
It’s a simple question I’ve started asking clients during our first meetings. You’d be amazed at how often I’m met with vague, generic answers or avoiding the question entirely.
Not because these companies lack sustainability programmes or data, many have robust reporting systems, dedicated teams, and solid compliance frameworks. But somewhere along the way, they’ve lost the thread of their own story.
Just recently, two clients came to us with strikingly similar realisations. One client in the food sector, the other in consumer goods. Their reporting was solid. Their targets were mapped out and aligned with all the right frameworks. But they were struggling to explain why any of it mattered, in language that would resonate with employees, customers, and stakeholders. They needed a story connecting their sustainability work to who they are as a brand and business.
This isn’t a unique challenge. According to Harvard's 2025 ranking of corporate sustainability priorities, building a credible, engaging narrative is now in the top 10 for global business leaders. Yet in today’s landscape, so many companies have become focused on saying the ‘right’ thing that they’ve stopped saying anything meaningful at all.
What happens when you lose the plot (literally)?
Without a strong sustainability narrative:
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Your data doesn’t add up to a coherent story
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Your people feel disconnected to what the company stands for
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Customers can’t tell you apart from competitors
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Nobody understands your trade-offs or why you made certain choices
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All your hard work gets lost in scepticism or ignored entirely
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You miss the chance to build belief, trust, and momentum.
We’ve seen this play out across industries. Nestlé quietly dropped some key climate targets from their disclosures, probably for good strategic reasons. But without a story to explain the shift, it left a vacuum that critics were happy to fill with their own narrative.
BrewDog built its reputation on bold sustainability claims, especially that ‘carbon negative’ positioning. When those claims came under fire, the backlash wasn't just about the numbers. It was about a tone that didn't match the rigour underneath.
Even Unilever, a longtime sustainability leader, has had to recalibrate its messaging, shifting away from ‘purpose-led’ language toward something more commercially grounded as investor sentiment changed.
What does a good narrative look like today?
In a world where trust is low, scrutiny is high, and attention is short, your sustainability story needs to do more than just inform. It needs to connect, inspire, and set you apart. It needs to say things that only you can say.
Here's what that looks like:
01 It’s genuine
Your sustainability narrative should grow naturally from your business model, your strategic priorities, and your actual role in the world – not feel like an add-on.
Take the car industry. Automakers have made huge progress on climate targets and emissions reporting. But they often fall short when it comes to telling a broader, believable story about what they're actually doing. In 2025, several major players: Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, VW, got called out for having insufficient net zero plans, despite having Science-Based Targets in place. Why? Because they hadn't connected those targets sufficiently to their product strategies, EV rollouts, or what they're offering consumers. The result: technically sound reports, but a story that doesn’t stick.
02 It’s human
It speaks in real, relatable language – about care, fairness, health, pride – not just science, emissions, or acronyms.
Tesco gets this right by grounding its sustainability messaging in everyday community impact, from food waste to local partnerships that people can actually see and feel.
IKEA is another great example. Its communications focus on affordability, family life, and practical circularity, making sustainability feel personal and accessible instead of abstract or elitist.
03 It’s everywhere
A good narrative isn’t confined to the communications department. It influences decision-making, procurement, innovation, and company culture.
Microsoft exemplifies this through storytelling that reflects both its bold ambitions and the messy internal complexity of actually achieving them, like how it’s grappling with Scope 3 emissions and incentivising reductions across their supply chain.
04 It's transparent
You don’t have to solve every problem or pretend you’re perfect. But you need to be transparent about what matters most to you and why you’re making certain trade-offs.
LEGO sparked global conversation in late 2023 when it walked back a plan to switch from virgin plastic to recycled PET, citing higher lifecycle emissions. The move was praised because it came with honest, transparent messaging maintaining the company’s 2030 goal while shifting how it would get there.
Why this matters now
The frustrating truth is that even the best sustainability work can get lost without a clear way to talk about it. We've watched clients with genuinely impressive programmes struggle to get recognition, funding, or internal buy-in simply because they couldn't articulate what they were doing and why it mattered.
Whether you're navigating green claims scrutiny, launching a new innovation, or building internal buy-in — your sustainability narrative is what gives coherence, clarity, and conviction to your actions.
Making your story count
To stand out, your narrative needs to be:
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Creative enough to engage
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Credible enough to show progress
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Compliant enough to stand scrutiny
It should bolster your reputation, set you apart from competitors, and create a lasting emotional and strategic connection with the audiences who matter most.
It’s the difference between saying what you have to say — and telling a story only you can say.
A final provocation
As you plan your next campaign, investor day, or leadership offsite, ask yourself:
Do we know what sustainability really means to us — and can we say it, simply and powerfully?
If the honest answer is ‘no’, or even ‘sort of,’ then it's time to reclaim your narrative, and invite your stakeholders into a story that is yours alone to tell. That’s how you’ll unlock the real value in your sustainability investment.