Communicate sustainability! It seems simple, but there are challenges and opportunities. Have you ever come across any product communication that claims to be sustainable and had doubts about it? Or that a certain marketing campaign is being contradictory? Or what about that example of a company that knew how to convey the message of sustainability very successfully?

All this attention when interpreting sustainability communication is essential so that we, consumers, can make assertive choices and not fall into the trap. greenwashing, which means when a company and/or product reports attributes that are not evidenced and without foundations, being a “greenwashing” of sustainable aspects.

Sustainability communication needs to function as a journey, going beyond the dissemination of products, with the trajectory that a given company has in relation to the topic being the main justification for communicating its sustainability pillars, its strategy and the programs that support the established goals. It is with this transparency, through substantiated and communicated data, that consumer reliability is achieved and a good reputation is acquired.

Data from the Healthy and Sustainable Life 2021 survey, by the Akatu Institute - a non-profit organization that carries out actions to raise awareness, mobilize and engage society towards conscious consumption - shows that three out of every five Brazilians are willing to pay more for products and brands that work to improve society and the environment. In other words, communication is a determining factor for consumers to decide to pay more for a product with sustainable attributes, because by understanding these attributes and their socio-environmental values, they will make a decision as to whether or not the investment is worth it.

To support communication guidance, the United Nations Environment Program developed, in 2017, the material Guidelines for Providing Information on the Sustainability of Products, and one of the objectives of this document is to establish minimum requirements that must be met when providing consumers with sustainability information.

Among these requirements, the following stand out:

• The reliability. Allegations must have a reliable basis, through studies and substantiated data.
• The relevance. Inform about the genuine benefit/attribute of the product, which goes beyond legal compliance.
• The clarity. Communication needs to be useful and easy to understand for the consumer.
• Transparency. Provide sources and methodology used.
• Accessibility. Communication must reach the consumer.

With this, it is possible to observe that there is an opportunity for those who communicate their products in a reliable and relevant way, being clear, transparent and accessible to the consumer.

It is important to highlight that there is a series of principles that Conar (Brazilian Code of Advertising Self-Regulation) created to help companies pay attention to the environmental agenda in advertising, so as to avoid greenwashing. Among these principles, the one that draws the most positive attention is that of relevance (once again), that is, the environmental benefit communicated must be significant in terms of impact, considering the production, use and disposal of the material.

In relation to this, I point out a question and a path: where can we look for the real benefits and sustainability attributes of a product, process or service to communicate? Knowing the impacts and quantifying them, one way is the life cycle assessment study, which supports decision making, portfolio differentiation and the promotion of sustainability in the value chain.

And finishing this discussion, when thinking about communication and sustainability, I always divide myself into three characters: 

1. As a sustainability professional, where I seek to measure and translate the socio-environmental impacts found;
2. As a communicator, knowing how to translate the translation into the consumer's language;
3. And finally, as a consumer, paying attention to choices and learning to interpret the sustainability actions and attributes that were translated.

Share