The Sustainability Communicator with Mike Hower – Details, episodes & analysis

While food isn’t always the flashiest sustainability topic, with agriculture being a significant driver of the climate crisis, strong sustainability communication is needed to educate and engage consumers to act. KIND is leading some cutting-edge work around regenerative agriculture – which comes with its own set of sustainability communication challenges. In this episode, Mike speaks with Lindsay Philpott, Sustainability Communication Manager at KIND to learn more about how the company navigates communicating complex sustainability topics to consumers.

• Connect with Lindsay Philpott on LinkedIn.
• Learn more about the KIND Almost Acres Initiative.

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

The role of the CSO has changed significantly over the years, from a backroom marketing function to being key figures in their company’s business operation and growth. Roughly 183 public companies in the U.S. now employ a CSO, up from 29 in 2011, according to a recent report from recruiter Weinreb Group. Of those, more than three-quarters sit on the company’s leadership team while just over a third report directly to the CEO.

With this elevated status comes increasing responsibility for CSOs to be the chief communicator of a company's social and environmental efforts — both internally and externally. Yet with many CSOs coming from technical backgrounds, they aren’t always prepared to be the person behind the podium. In this episode, Mike connects with Ellen Weinreb, one of the world’s leading sustainability recruiters who has worked with countless CSOs over the years, to better understand the ever-evolving role of the CSO and what this means for sustainability communication. 

• Connect with Ellen Weinreb on LinkedIn.
• Follow Weinreb Group Sustainability Recruiting on LinkedIn.
• Read "Sustainability Chiefs Say Their Roles Have Become More Complex and Relevant" on The Wall Street Journal.
• Read the 2023 Weinreb Group Chief Sustainability Officer report.

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

After two years of consideration and more than 24,000 comments, on March 6, 2024 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally adopted its “rules to enhance and standardize climate-related disclosures by public companies and in public offerings.” These rules are part of an effort to respond to investor demand for more “consistent, comparable and reliable” information about the financial effects of climate-related risks on a company’s operations — and how those risks are managed while balancing concerns about mitigating costs. To better understand what made it into the final SEC climate rules, and how this impacts sustainability communication moving forward, Mike caught up with Derek Young, VP of ESG at the REIT CBL Properties.

Episode Notes

• SEC Adopts Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (press release)
• Connect with Derek Young on LinkedIn
• SEC passes new emissions rule: Here’s what you need to know (GreenBiz)

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

Sustainability storytelling is more important — and complicated — than ever. With so many changing expectations and regulations around sustainability storytelling, knowing how to effectively social and environmental impact is a top challenge for companies across the globe. In this episode, Mike brings in the expertise of a fellow sustainability communications expert — Whitney Dailey, Executive Vice President, Purpose at the global public relations firm Allison Worldwide — to better understand how companies can navigate sustainability storytelling in 2024. 

Episode Notes

• Follow Whitney Dailey on LinkedIn
• Why Corporate America Has Gone Quiet on ESG (Wall Street Journal)
• A Huge Win for Activists Puts Climate on the 2024 Agenda (The New York Times)

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

Writing is a lost art for many sustainability professionals. But the ability to write well continues to be critical for communicating social and environmental challenges effectively. In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike discusses key learnings from over a decade as a write and editor in the corporate sustainability space that form the fundamentals of effective sustainability writing. 

Episode Notes

• Learn more about the Writing for Impact Masterclass.
• Read "The five fundamentals of effective sustainability writing."

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

With the stakes of communicating sustainability higher than ever, it's important that companies get their story straight. But many continues to fail to tell authentic and engaging stories that resonate with their key audiences. In this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike explains common reasons why businesses struggle to tell good sustainability stories - and how to do better.

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

If there's one things corporate sustainability professionals love more than a healthy serving of alphabet soup with our many acronyms, it's trying to make predictions about what will happen in this truly unpredictable space. But in this episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike takes a crack at it anyway. Here are some things to look for in sustainability communication in 2024. 

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

The stakes of communicating sustainability are higher than ever as global companies enter a new era of ESG risk and opportunity. In this inaugural episode of The Sustainability Communicator, Mike discusses how the increased risks and rewards of bad and good sustainability communication, respectively, are calling for a new type of sustainability communications professional capable of translating between marketing and sustainability departments.

Some additional resources:

• Hower Impact ENGAGE blog article "Rethinking the role of the sustainability communicator"
• The EU’s Green Claims Directive explained
• The EU's CSRD explained
• Learn more about how Mike helps organizations with sustainability communication challenges

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact

Greenwashing law is still in its nascency, but recent regulations in Europe and case law in the U.S. is beginning to shape its future. In Europe, companies must prove that they aren’t greenwashing, while in the U.S. the burden is on the consumer to prove that a company is making false claims. As companies navigate this new legal landscape, they must tread carefully with their sustainability communication efforts. In this episode, Mike connects with legal and ESG expert Christine Uri to better understand this emerging legalese, and how sustainability communicators should proceed.

• Follow Christine Uri on LinkedIn.
• Read "EU Moves Closer To Regulating Greenwashing By Businesses In New Green Claims Directive" on Forbes

• Order Sustainability Storytelling — Mike's book about communicating sustainability in business
• Follow Mike on LinkedIn to stay updated on his regular insights on sustainability storytelling
• Subscribe to The Sustainability Story on Substack for more in-depth analysis of sustainability communication challenges and practical advice on how to overcome them
• Got a guest or topic idea? Reach out at howerimpact.com/contact