Op-ed by Martina Donohoe, sustainability and safety director, Bidvest Noonan.
ESG scepticism is real, and I do understand why some organisations have responded by pulling back from discussing their approach to these issues.
After years of inflated claims and public scrutiny, saying less can feel like the safer, prudent choice. But pulling back on public sustainability communication is not a sensible precaution. It is a potential reputational risk that compounds over time.
When an organisation goes quiet on sustainability, its absence gets noticed. After a while, that silence is widely perceived as deliberate. There’s a word for this – ‘greenhushing‘ – and it isn’t a compliment.
Customers are asking more searching questions than they were even three years ago. Supplier assessments have grown from a handful of tick-box queries into detailed, data-driven evaluations. Investors expect verified figures.
And as Gen Z and Gen Alpha increase in numbers in the workforce, they will rank sustainability credentials alongside other factors when assessing job offers. These are operational realities, and silence does nothing to address them.
Why vague commitments backfire
The scepticism that sustainability professionals are navigating now is partly self-inflicted. For years, some businesses published aspirational language with very little supporting substance. Broad pledges to “work toward” a greener future, without verification or timelines, eroded trust.
Regulators picked up on this shortfall and eventually stakeholders grew impatient. The problem was never communicating on sustainability. The problem was communicating without a proper basis to support it.
The bar has shifted. Science-backed targets, independently verified, are now the threshold for being taken seriously.
For example, on an annual basis, Bidvest Noonan sends its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory for independent/external assessment against ISO 14064 prior to public statement. We also report to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) annually and submit to external rating by EcoVadis. Nothing we say publicly bypasses that process.
We adopt this rigorous process to make sure we are saying things we can actually stand behind. If a claim cannot survive scrutiny, it should not be a claim. The organisations that understood this principle early and acted on it are in a stronger position today. Those that leaned on vague language are now either rebuilding trust or going quiet, which amounts to the same problem.
The case for going further, not pulling back
In April 2025, Bidvest Noonan’s climate targets were validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We’ve committed to achieving a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes by 2030 (starting from a 2023 financial year baseline), and to reaching net zero by 2045.
Looking outside our own organisation, in January 2026, the number of companies with SBTi-validated targets grew to 10,000 – representing more than 40% of global market capitalisation, and a geographic spread across 90 countries. That growth reflects organisations choosing rigour over retreat, and the direction of travel is clear.
As regulation is expected to intensify in the next three to five years, the window for building a credible, independently verified position on sustainability is now, not later.
Keeping it real for your own people
There are practical dimensions to this beyond reporting cycles. Bidvest Noonan employs around 27,000 people across the UK and Ireland. A significant proportion are frontline workers, in security, facilities, cleaning and maintenance, who do not sit at desks.
Reaching them with sustainability communication calls for clear, plain-language messaging. It matters because these colleagues are not passive recipients of a sustainability strategy. They are part of how it gets delivered.
Our Good Catch programme reflects the need to involve our people. Launched in November 2024, the proactive safety reporting app has received nearly 3,000 reports in the past year alone. It supports voice typing and native language translation, built for a workforce that spans 157 nationalities.
These thousands of reports may have helped avert numerous injuries and incidents of property damage. Safety and sustainability are connected at the operational level. As temperatures rise and heat stress worsens, outdoor workers face a real and increasing risk.
The legal and moral duty of care we hold toward them makes remaining engaged with the substance of sustainability strategy more urgent, not less.
Losing a reputation is easy; maintaining one takes effort
The organisations that come through this period of uncertainty and keep their credibility on ESG issues intact will be those that have invested in verified, transparent positions instead of maintaining silence. Realising the effect of that messaging takes time to build.
Starting now is the only option that makes sense.
Learn more at bidvestnoonan.com
