Green Hushing: A New Trend With Alarming Effects

You’re probably already aware of ‘greenwashing’: when organizations exaggerate or inflate their positive environmental efforts, attempting to downplay or distract from their negative environmental or social impacts.

But you may be less familiar with the term ‘green-hushing’ which is when organizations avoid mentioning or drawing attention to their emissions reduction/carbon offsetting targets and progress for fear of scrutiny and backlash in the form of bad-press.

Organizations must be held accountable for their environmental impacts and progress. However, if the response to that public accountability is a fear of setting bold targets or sharing any progress, there is a risk of organizations losing focus on the importance of corporate social responsibility altogether. 

Interestingly, the term ‘green-hushing’ isn’t that new… it was coined in 2008. But it’s on the rise. A recent report by South Pole found nearly one in four of the 1,200 companies they surveyed globally have set net-zero targets but have decided not to publicly share their progress. Naturally, this makes it harder for the public, the media, and stakeholders to hold these companies to their commitments.