Greenhushing is Unsustainable – How the World’s Biggest Brands are Letting Billions Go to Waste

Brand Finance Sustainability Perceptions Index reveals value to capture from the gap between actual and perceived sustainability

Research from leading valuation firm Brand Finance, in association with CSRHub and the International Advertising Association (IAA), indicates that the world’s biggest brands are missing out on billions of dollars of potential value by failing to properly communicate their sustainability achievements and progress.

Brand Finance’s Sustainability Perceptions Index is based on a study of over 150,000 respondents across 40 countries that examines over 6,000 of the world’s biggest brands. This ‘gap value’ represents the difference between perceived sustainability and actual sustainability performance. A positive value indicates that a brand’s sustainability performance is better than its perceptions would suggest. This implies that with concerted effort to communicate sustainability achievements more effectively, businesses could add significant value for shareholders.

Brand Finance finds that 85 brands have a positive gap value of over USD100 million, totalling USD25 billion.

Brand Finance’s Strategy & Sustainability Director, Robert Haigh, commented:

“Brands have to strike a fine balance when communicating about sustainability. Consumers are now rightly attuned to potential greenwashing; in response, brands are becoming too precautionary and restrictive in their approach to sustainability communications. This greenhushing could reduce the incentive for competitors to improve their performance, slowing progress industry-wide. Just as importantly, these brands are letting financial go to waste, short-changing shareholders and other stakeholders in the process.”

Brand Finance and other experts will discuss the topic in depth during the Sustainability Perceptions Webinar on 18^th April, 14:30 GMT / 09:30 EDT. Our speakers include Anuj Saush, ESG Center Leader, at The Conference Board and John Osborn, USA - Director, at Ad Net Zero. Other speakers to be announced – register here for updates and to secure your spot.

Note to Editors

The full ranking, additional insights, charts, more information about the methodology, and definitions of key terms are available in the Brand Finance Sustainability Perceptions Index 2024.

About Brand Finance

Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions.

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