Monday 13 February 2023

‘Sustainability is at the heart of our business’, parrots AI – and thousands of others


"Sustainability is at the heart of our business" is a phrase Aggregate Industries parrots again and again. But it's not the only company to do so. A search for the phrase on Google produces 140,000 results.

As this article remarks: 
Suspiciously similar versions of the same trite slogan inundate press releases, CEO speeches, advertising campaigns, media interviews and sustainability reports the world over.
We know the slogan means nothing to Aggregate Industries – as its plans for Straitgate Farm with processing of as-dug sand and gravel an unprecedented 23 miles away at Hillhead Quarry confirm. 

The article goes on: 
If ever there was a phrase that was so obviously extracted from the bowels of the corporate communications department and inserted into the mouth of an unsuspecting executive, this is it. 

The truth is, if sustainability actually was central to so many business philosophies, the planet would probably not be quite as warm as it is now.

So why are so many brands hiding behind the same slogan when talking about a topic that is now under such intense scrutiny from investors, regulators and consumers? 

"There is a perceived ‘safety in sameness’ – particularly when it comes to sustainability communications," says Suzy Goulding, who leads sustainability for communications company Publicis Groupe in Asia. As long as brands say exactly the same as their peers, no-one will ask awkward questions, appears to be the reasoning, she suggests. 

Using hackneyed slogans like "sustainability is in our DNA" achieves the opposite of shielding a company from scrutiny, Goulding contends. "The first thing I would want to ask a client if this was their opening statement would be: prove it."  

Fossil fuels companies use the "DNA" mantra often, observes Belinda Noble, founder of Comms Declare, a non-profit pushing for public relations firms to stop working for Big Oil.  

"For most companies it is meaningless, self-serving bullsh*t. Either, it is an aspiration from their executive team, or a blatant tactic from the marketing team to capitalise on green consumer sentiment,” she says. 

Brands that have genuinely embedded sustainability into their businesses, like clothing brand Patagonia and confectioner Tony’s Chocolonely, can usually clearly articulate what their purpose is without a generic catch-all phrase, says Darian McBain, the former CSO of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Thai Union, who recently started a consultancy. 

She says businesses are feeling pressured to insert sustainability somewhere in the language they use, but don’t really understand how or why. “Sustainability is at the heart of our business” means little, isn’t measurable but keeps you firmly in the pack to meet generic stakeholder expectations,” says McBain. 

For some businesses, a more appropriate phrase would be "sustainability is the appendix of our business", McBain suggests: "No real purpose, can be removed surgically without significant interruption to longevity, but has significant implications if it bursts."

With growing pressure on brands to prove that their sustainability claims are real, with serious legal consequences for those that aren’t – just ask Shell, Danone, H&M, Deutsche Bank and others – loose, generalised claims now feel perilously out of date. 
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