Just a few years ago, pledges to address climate change were an essential component of companies in companies. Amazon Climate pledge trumpet It concluded it on the name of the largest Seattle Square. Wall Mart promise to cut off Jigatone of carbon emissions From her supply chain, the largest manager in the world, Blackrock, with her $ 11 trillion investments, Compressed companies To reach a plan to photograph their emissions by 2050.
Now, many companies are completely avoided. During the profit calls, the reference to many known climate terms decreased by 76 percent compared to three years, according to what it said. Modern analysis of S&P 500 companies by Bloomberg. The sharp declines from financial companies and estimated companies for consumers, a category for those who provide optional purchases, such as Starbucks and Airbnb.
The hesitation of talking about climate change – is sometimes called “Greenhushing– It can reduce the pressure on the pollutants of major companies who were slow to reduce their emissions. This trend has been linked to an increasing violent reaction against sustainable investment, as well as a political scene that changes with the duration of President Donald Trump’s second current investment in investment in the field of investment.
Companies were arrested in tightening the rope: on the one hand, Investors press them to be serious About the risk of climate change into their business. On the other hand, he mentioned any word related to what is called ESG-the polarization shortcut that refers to “environmental and social investment and governance”- The reaction threatens the Trump administration. Experts suggest that the method of needle thread is to stay away from flash points such as ESG and talk specifically about the financial risks offered by the carrier planet.
John Marshall, CEO of the potential Energy Coalition, a non -party marketing company that focuses on climate work, says silence is not a profitable strategy. Marshall said: “We do not believe that voters or consumers are ever liked, regardless of their political lines, by removing the concept of climate change from any language,” Marshall said.
His research shows that investors and companies that want the public talk about climate change – as the risk of investment, not an ethical issue. according to Possible energy report last September3 out of 4 Americans surveyed believe that companies bear the responsibility for reducing their impact on the climate. Moreover, about 9 out of 10 of the United States retail investors want companies to reduce emissions and prepare for increasingly predictable roads that can lead to risks such as supply chain disorders and high insurance costs.
The first signs of Greenhushing appeared in 2023, when the Swiss Antarctica found that a quarter of large companies around the world He decided not to publish their progress in climate goals. The reason, the south later found that companies want to avoid the legal risks that came with high -level pledges. It was a response to the countries Drafting new laws against “green washing”, The term deceptive environmental advertisement.
At the same time, financial institutions were already dealing with the reverse reaction against ESG, which rose in 2022. Claims targeting asset managers, pension funds and federal agencies, claiming that “capital waking” places policy on financial interests. Red states including Florida and Texas Withdrawing billions in state funds From Blackrock and other ESG -friendly companies. Blackrock, which was in 2021, supported nearly half of the shareholders’ proposals to address environmental and social issues, turned the U. between July 2023 and June 2024, Only 4 percent of them support.
“They were very visible and very frank about what they were doing in this space,” said Boy. It expects that companies with large climate plans now have to disclose the opposition to ESG as risks in their annual reports. This feeling of caution also appears on the market: Over the past two years, there have been more money that leaves sustainable money in the United States, which would happen, According to Morningsar’s research.
BIOY suspected that the trend still has an operating room, given Trump’s runner -up. Indeed, companies including Apple, Walmart and Siemens moved away from the climate alliance Formed during Trump’s first state. Piui pointed out the directive circulating in governmental organizations Warning from using terminology Such as “pollution”, “clean energy” and “climate science”. “The companies that deal with the administration or any governmental organization will be keen not to use these terms,” said Boya.
In the past, some companies used a language about climate change that adopted moral framing, such as “” “Do the right thing“But most people do not think this is to boycott what companies should do.
It raises the broader question about how to talk about ordinary people about climate change when Many terms that environmental defenders use can provoke a reaction to the knee. “I think climate movement should be very thoughtful and strategic about whether or not Dei or Esg,” said Austin Whitman, CEO of Change Climate Project, non -profit tools to help companies cut off their emissions. “I think all of us through the spectrum, regardless of the reason we fought for it, we need to move away from ourselves from these shortcuts and topics that are really easy to reduce with one criticism.”
