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“Greenhushing” is a practice of deliberately choosing to hide ecological or environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) references to avoid accusations of greenwashing.
This practice is increasingly common among businesses that want to avoid criticism related to their environmental sustainability from customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Actors in the textile and clothing industry are particularly exposed to this phenomenon due to the extensive scrutiny and criticism directed at them.
Some investment funds have also chosen to no longer be classified as funds with sustainable investment goals to avoid criticism. It is important to note that greenhushing could be seen as the next step in the evolution of increasingly sophisticated greenwashing.
What is Greenhushing?
“Greenhushing” (hushing which means “to silence” in English) is a new term used to describe the practice of deliberately choosing to hide references, environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) actions to avoid accusations of greenwashing.
This can happen when businesses are hesitant to share progress on sustainability initiatives and choose not to incorporate sustainability into their brand communication. They prefer to progress silently towards their goals. This term was first covered by the consulting firm Treehugger in 2020.
What are the risks of Greenshushing?
What are the causes of Greenhushing?
The fear of reproaches or the “Let's live happy, live hidden”
It is possible that the concerns raised about the attitude of businesses to greenhushing are linked to a certain high level of requirements from civil society and investors in terms of communicating their commitments.
Management teams might feel cautious about reporting their ecological or sustainability progress, for fear of not meeting high standards or facing accusations of greenwashing.
It can also be a simple derivation from the current management philosophy: "'under-promise and over-deliver'.
An evolution of greenwashing
Planet Tracker has released a new report warning that corporate greenwashing has become a “multi-headed beast.” Indeed, Greenwashing has become a complex and multifaceted practice, which includes several different types of activities that aim to disguise the real actions and commitments of a company.
Greenhushing is one of the many faces of this beast, which involves deliberately withholding environmental or sustainability information to avoid scrutiny.
Greenhushing can be seen as an evolved form of this practice, which now involves not communicating about a company's harmful environmental policies rather than simply presenting them in a favourable light. By hiding this information, businesses can avoid criticism and pressure to improve their sustainability record, and it can be more difficult for consumers and investors to know if a business is truly committed to the environment.
Greenhushing example
For example, a company can reduce carbon emissions by investing in renewable energies or by optimizing its industrial processes to be more energy efficient. However, instead of highlighting these initiatives in its reports or communication campaigns, it chooses not to talk about them for fear of criticism on other less efficient aspects of its climate record.
In this case, although the company is making real progress in reducing its footprint carbon, she practices Greenhushing by failing to share these efforts to avoid accusations of Greenwashing or not meeting the high expectations on climate issues. This prevents stakeholders from having a comprehensive view of its actions to reduce emissions and hampers progress towards greater transparency in the fight against change. climatic.
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