At SHIFT we produce excellent environment reports, which clients use for compliance, investors requirements and effective sustainability strategy development. But there is another use! The data in the reports is really useful for marketing. Our friends at Brace For Impact told us more and here’s what they said:
You’ve done the work. You have the data. You know where you stand on energy use, carbon emissions and environmental performance.
The progress is real – but is it reaching the people who need to see it, in a format they can act on?
Research from Bain [1] found that 85% of suppliers embed sustainability in their offerings, yet only 53% of customers feel those options meet their needs. Perception hasn’t caught up with performance and progress.
For housing associations, councils, developers and contractors, this gap has real consequences. More and more sustainability questions are being asked, and for the funders, commissioners and procurement teams holding the keys to future business, the answers are increasingly a deciding factor.
That’s why organisations need to be able to point to structured, evidenced environmental progress.
When you can answer those decisive questions, you have a headstart over those who can’t – even if the underlying performance is similar.
A thorough environmental assessment wins business. Verified data, clear baselines, a record of what’s been achieved, and an honest picture of where to go next – this is the raw material for meaningful communication, which you can tailor to the audience that needs to hear it. When the substance is already there, the next step is working out how it reaches the right audiences, through the right channels, at the right moment.
That might be an internal conversation about how sustainability performance feeds into your communications strategy or working with a specialist to shape the evidence into something stakeholders can engage with. Equipped with the latest updates, you can quickly deliver the communication you need: a board update, a response to a procurement question, a funder report, a public-facing sustainability summary – the options are endless.
Most organisations understand the value of an impact report, which is great. It’s also important to remember that a sustainability report isn’t a final outcome, with everybody going back to their ‘real’ job until next year when you all frantically start digging through folders again and trying to remember which spreadsheet has those figures you need. Monitoring your environmental and social impact should be an ongoing process – and it can be, when you select the right tools.
The importance of communicating sustainability initiatives sits hand in hand with the greenwashing discussion. These overstated or misleading environmental claims need to be challenged. But there is a real risk that this means organisations resist talking about the environment at all. ‘Greenhushing’ has its own consequences: if organisations that are genuinely making progress don’t talk about it, expectations never change; the bar remains low for everyone. That is why communication is key.
At Brace For Impact, our work as sustainability communication experts gives us a passion for making sure strong sustainability stories are shared widely. We love working with data from consultants like SHIFT Environment because it provides such a clear foundation for a story that can be shared with stakeholders in the form that will have the most impact.
If you’d like to talk about how to make more of your environmental data, get in touch with Brace For Impact at braceforimpactgroup.com.
If you need to produce an environmental report, please be in touch with SHIFT Environment at [email protected]
[1] https://www.bain.com/insights/how-to-master-art-of-selling-ceo-sustainability-guide-2024/
Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash