Sustainability professionals just can’t shake our jargon addition. With “ESG”, “DEI” and other terms under attack, companies are grabbing a thesaurus (I still use old hand-me-down paperback versions) to find replacements. Recent examples I’ve seen:
- Replacing “equity” with “opportunity”
- Replacing “ESG” and/or “sustainability” with “resilience”
Alternatively, companies simply remain silent on the matters (“greenhushing”):
“Bloomberg Green analyzed transcripts of S&P 500 company earnings calls going back to 2020, tracking mentions of more than a dozen terms including climate change, global warming, ESG, clean energy and green energy. On average, companies are talking about the environment 76% less than they were three years ago.”
Do we really need to find new jargon?
I think not.
- Ask your executives and senior operational leaders if “opportunity” and “resilience” (or any other potential replacement words) have specific business meaning to them?
- Ask yourself – who actually cares about sustainability terminology? This is more complicated now than it was, say, 5 months ago. Prior to that, the vast majority of those who cared were simply other ESG/sustainability professionals. Granted, using “old” terminology today does come with some business risk but there is a solution.
Back in the 1990s, the words “sustainability development” and “sustainability” were attacked. The lexicon then changed to “license to operate”, giving way to “corporate social responsibility” – which in turn mostly morphed into “responsible sourcing”, then to “ESG” and now “sustainability” is again gaining popularity. There were some differences in programmatic direction between these terms, but at their core they were based on the same foundations – and lacked clarity.
Here’s the rub – Whatever terminology you come up with today will be tomorrow’s target, contributing to a perpetual cycle of chasing words.
Traditional business terms like profit margin, cost reduction, market development, waste minimization, process optimization, supply chain risk management, strategic planning and meeting customer demands accurately reflect goals and results of ESG/DEI/sustainability/climate management. Those are less controversial and better understood than jargon.
Side note: At least one investment firm is also changing terminology according to Responsible Investor’s In the Loop email newsletter:
“UK-based Aviva has shifted its language on divestment, with a spokesperson telling RI that the business now ‘prefers not to use the term’. Instead, Aviva now says it ‘reallocates capital’.
The shift appears to be relatively recent, as the term ‘divest’ was used several times in its May 2024 ESG investment baseline and exclusions policy, as well as its 2023 and 2024 climate-related financial disclosure reports.”
Members can access our Guidebooks on Communicating ESG Value and Simplifying ESG/Sustainability Business Value.
If you aren’t already subscribed to our complimentary ESG blog, sign up here for daily updates delivered right to you.
