In 2025, greenhushing is on the rise as companies face political backlash on ESG. Learn how to stay credible on climate action without going silent.
Head of Marketing
Edited: 4 Jun 2025
15 min read
In recent years, many of the world’s biggest companies have been criticised for greenwashing: talking too much about sustainability, and doing too little. But in 2025, we’re looking at a new reality. Rather than talking loudly about their climate action, many companies appear to have gone dark on climate, entering a phase of greenhushing that threatens transparent sustainability communication.
The impact of an anti-climate administration in the U.S., rollbacks on disclosure regulation worldwide, and a broader cultural backlash against ESG as a concept have left climate-ambitious businesses caught in a difficult position.
On the one hand, they’re committed to doing meaningful climate work and want to share that progress. On the other hand, the landscape is hostile: they risk criticism or even backlash for speaking publicly about their climate efforts.
What’s a climate-conscious company to do?
We believe this will be a defining era for clear, grounded climate action and communication. In the years ahead, businesses should focus on real progress and transparent disclosures - and tune out the noise.
What is Greenhushing and Why Does It Matter?
We define greenhushing as a failure to communicate climate action. Think of it as the opposite of greenwashing: instead of talking too loudly about what you’re not doing, greenhushing is staying too quiet about what you are doing.
→ Greenwashing, greenhushing, and greenwishing: what’s the difference?
Greenhushing may sound virtuous, but it’s problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, climate risk is business risk. Many investors, B2B customers, and other partners screen for climate commitments and risk management. Companies that fail to communicate how they are addressing climate risk and sustainability reporting obligations may miss out on funding and other business opportunities.
More broadly, greenhushing kills the corporate climate conversation. As leading companies in any given industry go quiet on climate, peer pressure dissipates, leading to a large-scale regression on global climate action. If a company wants to be a true climate leader, it must talk openly and honestly about its climate action in an effort to encourage its industry to follow suit. When leaders stop talking, followers stop doing.
The Intersection of Politics and Corporate Sustainability
A wave of political and cultural shifts has thrown corporate sustainability into a new era of uncertainty - what The Times calls “the great green rollback.” The return of Donald Trump to office has kicked this into high gear, with the country moving quickly to dismantle key climate policies: pulling out of the Paris Agreement (again), backing away from defending the SEC’s climate disclosure rules, and scrapping nearly 800 environmental justice grants. On top of that, a national “energy emergency” has been declared to fast-track fossil fuel projects - a clear signal that the old “drill, baby, drill” mindset is back.
But it’s not just about policy. The administration is also shifting the narrative: challenging climate science, replacing experts with political loyalists, and painting climate action as bad for business and the economy at large.
Even the EU, which typically leads on climate, has taken a few steps backward recently, most noticeably with the Omnibus proposal, which would drastically reduce ESG disclosure requirements for corporations. The result? A more polarised, uncertain landscape - one that’s making it even harder for climate-conscious companies to stay the course with confidence on their net-zero strategies and long-term climate leadership.
Case Studies & Expert Opinions
This new political pressure is already fuelling corporate caution. The great green rollback began with some of the biggest multinational organisations reneging on their sustainability commitments, such as the many high-profile banks that have exited the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, large American brands dropping DEI programs (including Walmart, Ford, and Lowe’s), and Coca-Cola abandoning its plastic recycling targets.
For those companies that made unrealistic or inauthentic climate commitments, “the Trump crackdown comes at a very convenient time and allows a lot of companies to try and drop these issues,” says Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at New York University Stern School of Business, in a recent Times article.
Still, not every company is using this moment as an excuse to slow down. Others are still as committed to climate as ever, even if they are dialing back their communications to avoid being drawn into political culture wars. Many institutional investors fall into this category. A recent report by Coolset revealed that 90% of companies plan to continue ESG reporting, even if they’re no longer required to.
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US has threatened to curb ESG-related activism by investors, and the Omnibus proposal in the EU may put less pressure on companies to report on their climate action, climate risk remains a key factor in how investors assess long-term value. Rather than abandon important due diligence processes, many investors are simply taking climate risk indoors - continuing to use it in internal assessments, but staying quiet about it to the public.
One consequence of this kind of greenhushing is that climate may lose its utility from a marketing standpoint, but gain more recognition as a critical business risk.
“We will perhaps see a shift away from climate as a consumer-facing poster child, which treats this topic as marketing,” says Taylor. “But anyone sourcing food, for example, is going to have to take this seriously because it’s not just a matter of corporate virtue signalling.”
Not everyone is staying silent on climate! Here are some companies that are taking climate leadership seriously:
→ 5 enterprises leading the way on climate action
Maintaining Transparency - Recommendations for Businesses
With everything going on, how should companies that genuinely care about climate action steer through this new wave of political and cultural pushback?
It might feel safer to stay quiet, especially when you're at risk of being criticised both for not doing enough on climate and for caring too much. But pulling back is the wrong move. It might go unnoticed in the short term, but over time, retreating from transparency chips away at your credibility and momentum. In a landscape this charged, consistency matters. If companies start wavering, switching gears, or going silent, they will lose the trust they have worked so hard to build.
“Everybody is at risk of looking like they shift in the breeze depending on who’s in power, and that they have no meaningful commitment to anything,” says Taylor.
Ultimately, the current backlash against corporate climate and ESG action is a temporary attitude that is likely to change yet again. Companies that plan to be in business for the long term should resist the temptation to change with the winds and continue with their existing commitments to climate action and disclosure.
In fact, this new reality might actually be a good thing for companies and for the planet. It creates space to focus on what really matters: taking meaningful climate action and communicating it clearly and honestly. Instead of chasing a competitive edge or blurring the line between climate communications and marketing, which too often leads to greenwashing, companies can shift from hype to substance. From polished campaigns to matter-of-fact updates on real progress. And who knows - some of the regulatory rollbacks might even ease the reporting burden, freeing up time and resources to focus on doing more, not just documenting it.
Best practices in ESG reporting
For the next few years, we recommend that companies stick to their mandatory and voluntary sustainability disclosure commitments. Follow best practices by reporting at least annually, covering key metrics across environmental, social, and governance risks, combining quantitative data with narrative context, and ensuring reports focus on what is currently happening or has already happened rather than on targets and projections.
How to communicate climate efforts safely and transparently
Many companies are understandably wary about communicating their climate efforts in this new era. We recommend publishing straightforward annual climate or sustainability reports that focus on the facts and avoid overstating achievements or making sweeping claims. Credible reporting starts with strong data foundations, so make sure you have reliable systems in place for collecting and managing climate data, and that your data governance practices are solid. It may also be wise to tone down climate-heavy marketing language and let formal reports carry the sustainability narrative.
Work with trusted partners (like Ecologi!)
During the great green rollback, finding the right sustainability partners is critical for two reasons. Firstly, the right partners help you allocate resources to meaningful, measurable climate action. And secondly, they also make it far easier to produce credible, trusted climate disclosures.
Platforms like Ecologi help you reduce, and report on your carbon footprint in accordance with trusted methodologies—supporting your science-based targets, net-zero strategy, and regulatory compliance. Better data means better disclosures, helping you to safeguard your credibility on climate. At the same time, Ecologi can help you restore our planet, giving you more good news to report on.