From Greenwashing to Greenhushing: The Environmental Communication Dilemma and Its Impact on Eco-Anxiety

Note: This article expands on research presented at the 2025 ACFAS (Association francophone pour le savoir) conference by the author and explores the emerging concept of greenhushing in corporate sustainability communications.

acfas 2025 - poster

When Silence Becomes Strategic — and Risky

While greenwashing is now widely identified and condemned, an opposite and increasingly common phenomenon is taking shape: greenhushing. It's no longer about pretending to act, but about deliberately hiding real sustainability efforts out of fear of criticism. This silent strategy reflects a growing pressure: fear of backlash, regulatory uncertainty, and deepening political polarization.

Under the Trump administration, the United States has seen a significant rollback of climate and social equity policies. Federal procurement guidelines now discourage companies from promoting climate or diversity commitments.

At the same time, coordinated backlash campaigns have targeted companies seen as too politically engaged. Brands like Molson Coors and Humana have faced accusations of "wokeness" for even moderate ESG actions.

In this climate, some businesses retreat. They scale down their public statements or shift communication to less visible channels. Paradoxically, the more they do, the less they say. And this strategic silence comes at a cost — both for businesses and for society.

Greenhushing: Understanding a Counterproductive Silence

Greenhushing is the opposite of greenwashing. Instead of exaggerating, companies withhold. The motivations are varied: fear of criticism, fear of being seen as inconsistent, or political hostility. According to South Pole (2024), 65% of companies surveyed do not communicate about half of their environmental actions, and 58% increased their silence between 2022 and 2024.

Behind this lies widespread mistrust, shifting standards (e.g., GRI, CSRD, ISSB), and a lack of clear sectoral guidance. Some companies, cautious about compliance, prefer silence over missteps.

But this silence can backfire. It creates an information vacuum that fuels distrust, disengagement — and eco-anxiety.

Greenhushing serves neither the company — as it erodes consumer trust and, through ripple effects, slows progress among suppliers, increasing systemic risk — nor the customer, who may interpret the silence as regression or a loss of essential guidance for informed decision-making.

Eco-Anxiety: A Real and Growing Human Cost

Eco-anxiety is a form of psychological distress rooted in the perceived lack of action against climate change. It increasingly affects young adults, but also engaged citizens of all ages. In the absence of visible progress or inspiring examples, the belief that "nothing is changing" takes hold.

Corporate silence feeds this narrative. It deprives people of clear reference points, makes progress invisible, and weakens mobilizing narratives. As a result:

• 68% of 18–34-year-olds report strong eco-anxiety (APA, 2022)

• 57% say they feel paralyzed by a lack of clarity (Ipsos, 2023)

• 64% feel confused by environmental messaging (GlobeScan, 2023)

In a world saturated with alarms, silence doesn't soothe — it isolates.

Rethinking Responsible Communication: Three Levers

The trust triangle

Overcoming greenhushing doesn't mean reverting to greenwashing. It requires building a new grammar of sustainability communication based on clarity, authenticity, and collaboration. The "triangle of trust" identifies three practical levers:

1. Trust Ecosystems

Collaborating with NGOs, industry alliances, or independent certification bodies increases credibility. Third-party validation of ESG commitments reduces the risk of being seen as self-serving.

Example: IKEA's partnership with WWF and FSC certification grounds its sustainability strategy in a coherent ecosystem. The company has worked with WWF since 2002 to improve forest management practices and increase the availability of FSC-certified wood products across its global supply chain.

2. Empowering Collective Action

Participatory initiatives like the "Deux Tonnes" workshops (a European carbon footprint reduction program that helps individuals understand and reduce their personal emissions to two tonnes of CO2 per year) give citizens tools to understand, discuss, and act together. Similar programs in Canada, such as Project Neutral and Carbon Conversations, engage communities in climate action. By facilitating these conversations, organizations transform skeptical audiences into informed communities.

3. Collaborative Storytelling

Promoting real, documented stories — sometimes only after actions have been implemented — strengthens credibility. Patagonia, for instance, waits years before speaking publicly about its sustainability efforts. The focus is not on promises, but on proof. This approach, which centres on transparency and verification, builds lasting trust rather than temporary approval.

Conclusion: From Silence to Engagement

Greenhushing, born out of fear and hostility, is a dead end. It worsens eco-anxiety, slows personal transitions, and undermines collective trust.

What's needed is not less communication, but better communication — grounded, transparent, and engaging. Far from silence or slogans, businesses can build sustainability narratives that are measurable, verifiable, and motivating.

This challenge calls for a collaborative effort between practitioners, researchers, and citizens. Together, they can develop the narratives we need to better understand, document, and take informed action on climate and ESG issues.

to learn more

La tentation du "Silent Impact" à l’heure du backlash écologique : faut-il renoncer à parler pour continuer à agir ? Elisabeth Laville (in French) https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/l-optimisme-en-mouvement-7224532810785509378/

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