Greenhushing is the corporate practice of intentional under-reporting, hiding or remaining silent about environment, social and governance (EDG) goals and sustainability achievements. The Corporate Governance Institute shares that companies do this to avoid public scrutiny, potential accusations of greenwashing, loss of contracts/customers, legal risks or backlash from anti-ESG sentiment. While sustainability programs endure, fewer organizations are talking about it publicly. To understand greenhushing PR and greenhouses sustainability efforts must continue to accelerate to make sure consumer trust is sustained.
How Firms are Greenhushing for Fear of Losing Contracts – Procurement Magazine
Jen Hughes, Co-Founder of The Marketing Pod, says: “When nearly all organisations are losing tenders, it’s also clear that silence is not a safe communications strategy. In fact, greenhushing has become a threat to business growth and could contribute to a slowdown in net zero progress.”
In 2025, only 36% of consumers reported seeing at least some sustainability messaging, a significant drop from 49% in 2023. Trust in these messages has also eroded significantly. While 79% of people expressed at least some trust in sustainability communications in 2022, that figure plummeted to 65% by 2025.
Why 2025 was the Year of Greenhushing – Trellis
This was the year of greenhushing PR. Yes, the phenomenon dates back to the beginning of the decade. But thanks to the new U.S. administration, courtroom defeats and new legal attacks, the silence is now broader and deeper. “The wider atmosphere is very chilly,” said Alison Taylor, a business school professor at New York University.
A few years ago, evidence for greenhushing was largely anecdotal. Now the data is growing. In September, for instance, a survey of 75 firms carried out by a Harvard researcher and an independent consultant found that while 85 percent maintained or expanded sustainability programs, only 16 percent publicly reaffirmed doing so. The practice is so pronounced, the authors said, that observers have confused it for a lowering of ambitions. “What looks like retreat is widespread greenhushing taking root,” they concluded.
‘Greenhushing’: Are businesses staying silent about climate pledges? – BBC
The latter trend has been dubbed “greenhushing” – deliberately downplaying climate pledges. But experts and researchers working in the field say the full picture is much more complicated, and pre-dates last year’s US presidential election.
In fact, the idea of greenhushing PR first got widespread popular attention back in 2022, when Switzerland-based climate consultancy South Pole identified it as a trend in their annual report, finding that a quarter of the companies they surveyed set “science-based emission reduction targets” – but did not plan to publicly talk about them.
Sustainability is dead—long live purpose – Fast Company
Over the past two years, many companies have quietly pulled sustainability out of the spotlight. Teams have shrunk, initiatives have been folded into broader efficiency mandates, and messaging around the efforts has softened. From the outside, it might even look like a full retreat.
The reality is more complex. Research from Harvard Business Review shows that most firms have actually continued their sustainability efforts but are choosing to talk about them less publicly, something that analysts are now calling “greenhushing.” Roughly 90% of the Fortune Global 500 still report on ESG annually, and global surveys show that 83% of companies increased sustainability spending in 2025, with a meaningful share raising investment by 20% or more.
From ‘greenwashing’ to ‘greenhushing,’ clean energy momentum advances despite political roadblocks – Fortune
Industries and countries may have pivoted from overhyping their clean energy efforts through “greenwashing” to quietly advancing green goals through “greenhushing.” Still, the energy transition is moving forward despite rising political pushback from the U.S. and other Western nations, executives said at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh.
One big change is the switch from empty promises of net-zero carbon goals to the more practical applications of green energy that make business sense and include positive returns on investment, they said.
Most companies are staying the course on ESG — just talking about it less – ESG Dive
A recent report from GlobeScan, a data partner of sustainability platform Trellis, found that greenhushing impacts engagement on sustainability and affects consumer trust. The research — which surveyed 30 global markets — found that the “reach and credibility” of sustainability communications had declined in the last year. Only 36% of consumers reported seeing at least “some” sustainability-focused messaging from brands in 2025, down from 49% in 2023. Greenhushing was “eroding public awareness and trust, making sustainability messages less influential on consumer choices,” according to the report.
Greenhushing: When Companies Don’t Want To Publicize Their Climate Progress – CleanTechnica
Greenhushing happens when organizations deliberately under-communicate or even remain silent about their environmental efforts. It’s interesting that, even with the backdrop of greenhushing, the number of companies making climate commitments continues to grow. In fact, more than 4,000 companies reported targets to the Climate Disclosure Project in 2024, up nine-fold over the last five years — 37% of companies were increasing their ambitions while only 16% were getting less aggressive.
Greenhushing PR pressures arise when companies try to balance consumer benefits while downplaying complex, often political and economic issues. Not surprisingly, social media has been identified as a key greenhushing space. Yet greenhushing undermines trust that’s essential for building relationships with consumers — isn’t transparency crucial for shaping consumer choices?
Greenwashing versus green hushing: Is there a better way? – Business Green
Recent research found more than 99 per cent of travel agent adverts monitored by the ASA contained no environmental content, prompting speculation that given the number, profile, and range of companies that have fallen foul of green claims rules, firms were becoming less willing to promote their environmental credentials.
For Smith, “greenhushing” has the potential to stifle vital knowledge sharing and debate. But she argued that rather than shutting up shop entirely, most firms have responded to more stringent rules and guidelines by communicating with more caution, which should work in favour of those businesses with the most impressive environmental performance. “Clearly, regulations are not there to quieten businesses,” she says. “They’re there to put a level of rigour and confidence around the way in which we communicate.”
When will companies adopt more PR strategies around sustainability?
FischTank PR has robust experience across all energy tech, climate tech and decarbonization efforts, spanning renewable energy, ESG strategy and corporate sustainability programs, among others. Greenhushing PR, the deliberate under-communication or silence around climate commitments, has become an increasing challenge for businesses. As climate tech, energy tech and broader sustainability efforts become more of a focus for many companies in the industries, FischTank works with those companies that are leading their respective industries in innovation. It is our ability to understand even the most niche technologies and sophisticated renewable programs is what makes our storytelling to the press and various audiences so successful.
If you’re interested in securing exposure for your company, reach out to us at [email protected].
***News roundup guest post from FischTank PR interns Abby Collins and Candace Guthrie***
