Here’s a bunch of wisdom from Cooley’s Beth Sasfai: “Many multinational public companies are grappling with a common challenge: how to satisfy multiple audiences simultaneously. Companies today face scrutiny from EU regulators, U.S. regulators, state attorneys general, consumer protection authorities, investors, NGOs, customers, employees and suppliers.
The key is not developing separate narratives for each stakeholder group. Instead, companies should focus on building a single, coherent set of facts that can withstand scrutiny across jurisdictions and support a consistent business narrative.
1. Move Beyond a Compliance-Only Mindset
Sustainability should not be viewed solely through the lens of regulatory compliance. While disclosure requirements remain important, many companies continue to communicate about sustainability because their investors, employees, customers, and business partners expect it.
Rather than asking, “What is the minimum we need to disclose?” companies should ask, “What information is essential to understanding our business operations, risks, and long-term strategy?”
The objective should not be to create different sustainability stories for different jurisdictions. The objective should be to create one credible story, grounded in facts, that is tied to the company’s operations and strategy and can withstand scrutiny wherever it is reviewed.
2. Inventory Sustainability Claims Across the Enterprise
Many companies focus their attention on sustainability reports while overlooking other sources of sustainability-related statements.
Organizations should conduct a comprehensive inventory of sustainability claims across all communication channels, including:
- Sustainability reports
- Corporate websites
- Marketing materials
- Product packaging
- Sales and customer proposals
- Supplier communications
- Investor presentations
- Social media content
In practice, some of the most problematic statements are not found in formal ESG reports but in decentralized communications that may never have received legal or compliance review.
3. Build a Robust Documentation File for Key Claims
Companies should treat significant sustainability claims with the same rigor applied to other material corporate disclosures.
A useful test is simple: if a regulator, plaintiff’s lawyer, journalist, customer or investor asked the company to substantiate a claim tomorrow, what evidence would be available to support it?
Particular attention should be paid to:
- Terms such as “sustainable,” “responsibly sourced,” “ethical,” or “environmentally friendly”
- Net-zero commitments and other long-term sustainability pledges
- Sustainable sourcing commitments
- Human rights and supply chain representations
Companies should be particularly cautious with absolute statements, including:
- “We do not use forced labor.”
- “Our suppliers adhere to our code of conduct.”
- “Our products are sustainably sourced.”
As regulatory expectations and supply-chain due diligence obligations continue to evolve, companies should ensure these claims are supported by documented evidence and appropriate controls.
4. Bring Legal Into the Process Earlier
Companies should move beyond viewing sustainability communications as a negotiation between sustainability teams seeking ambitious messaging and legal teams seeking to reduce risk.
Both functions share the same objective: communicating an accurate and compelling story while satisfying compliance obligations and managing legal and reputational risk.
The best outcomes occur when legal is involved early in the planning process – not merely at the end for a final “red flag” review. Early involvement allows legal and sustainability teams to develop a common fact base, align messaging across channels and identify potential risks before public commitments are made.
Legal’s role is not to make sustainability communications less ambitious. Its role is to make them more durable, defensible, and resilient when challenged.
The Bottom Line
In today’s environment, sustainability communications are being scrutinized from every direction. The companies best positioned to navigate this landscape will not be those that create separate messages for different audiences.
They will be the companies that develop a single, evidence-based narrative that is consistent across jurisdictions, supported by documentation and aligned with business strategy. A well-supported sustainability story is not just a compliance exercise – it is a governance exercise, a risk management exercise and increasingly, a business imperative.”
Authored by
Broc Romanek