Why Coca-Cola’s Quiet Move Matters And How Your Business Can Avoid the Same Mistake
With climate action climbing to the top of many business agendas, ambitious sustainability targets have become the norm.
As the 2030 deadline set by the Paris Agreement approaches, companies are rolling out bold commitments to reduce their emissions and improve their impact. Microsoft has pledged to be carbon-negative within the next five years,, Amazon promises net-zero emissions across its operations by 20240, and Coca-Cola was aiming for 25% reusable packaging by 2030.
While these pledges make headlines and inspire hope, there’s a pattern beginning to emerge. When it becomes clear a target won’t be hit, some companies are quietly moving the goalposts or going silent altogether. If they can’t meet the overly ambitious target, they simply shift the goal post or quietly withdraw their statement.
This practice, known as greenhushing, is quietly gaining traction. Coca-Cola’s recent decision to drop its reusable packaging goal without fanfare is a prime example of why silence isn’t always golden.
What Is Greenhushing?
When it comes to sustainability, transparency is everything. As more businesses rush to show they care about the planet, a range of “green” behaviours have emerged. That’s where terms like greenwashing, green rinsing, and now greenhushing come in.
To understand how greenhushing, it helps to look at how it compares to two other common “green” behaviours:
- Greenwashing is the most well-known: when companies overstate, exaggerate, or fabricate their environmental efforts to appear more eco-friendly than they really are.
- Greenrinsing refers to when businesses frequently change or update their sustainability targets, often without explanation. This creates the illusion of progress while dodging real accountability.
- Greenhushing, on the other hand, is more subtle. It happens when companies deliberately underreport or hide their sustainability progress. It’s not about pretending to do more than they are, it’s about saying nothing at all.
Often, this silence comes from a fear of backlash, greenwashing accusations, or a lack of confidence in meeting set targets. But make no mistake: staying silent can erode stakeholder trust just as quickly as a misleading claim.
Coca-Cola’s Quiet Shift
In 2022, Coca-Cola made a high-profile pledge to ensure that 25% of its packaging would be reusable by 2030. This was seen as a bold move by a global beverage giant often criticised for its plastic footprint.
Fast forward to late 2024, just before a major global plastics summit, and that pledge quietly disappeared from the company’s website. There was no press release, no public statement, and no updated timeline. The commitment was simply removed, and replaced by broader goals around recycling and collection rates.
This lack of transparency drew immediate criticism. Environmental groups accused Coca-Cola of greenhushing, suggesting the company was trying to avoid scrutiny by going silent on a key sustainability promise.
The problem wasn’t just the change in targets. It was the way it happened: quietly and without accountability. Coca-Cola may have hoped to avoid headlines, but its silence made an even louder statement.
Why Greenhushing Is a Problem for Business
Greenhushing isn’t just about staying quiet, it’s about selectively hiding information that the public deserves to know.
When companies promote bold sustainability goals, they benefit from the media attention, consumer trust, and reputational boost that comes with being seen as a climate leader.
According to a 2023 ESG Communications Survey, 74% of consumers said they were more likely to support a brand that is transparent about its sustainability goals, even if they’re still in progress.
But if those same goals are later dropped, delayed, or watered down without transparency, as in Coca-Cola’s case, they still get to keep the green credibility without facing the consequences. That’s where greenhushing starts to blur into greenwashing.
Greenhushing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. When companies go quiet on sustainability, especially after bold public pledges, it creates ripple effects- from customer perception to investor confidence and industry credibility.
- It undermines trust: When a company makes a bold environmental promise, such as eliminating plastic waste or switching to reusable packaging, it builds goodwill with customers, investors, and the wider public. When those targets are quietly abandoned or replaced without explanation, it feels like a betrayal.
- It avoids accountability: Transparency creates space for meaningful dialogue. If a business encounters unexpected challenges in meeting a goal, being honest about those obstacles can foster understanding and even collaboration. Greenhushing, by contrast, shuts down that conversation. It allows companies to sidestep responsibility instead of facing the reality of missed targets and learning from them.
- It erodes credibility: Sustainability claims that once sat proudly on websites or annual reports, only to later disappear without explanation, raise immediate red flags. Stakeholders begin to question not just one commitment, but the entire brand’s integrity.
- It distorts the sustainability narrative: Perhaps most dangerously, greenhushing allows brands to benefit from the reputational uplift of setting ambitious goals, without ever delivering on them. This skews the public understanding of what real climate action looks like and undermines the progress of genuinely transparent, impact-driven businesses.
Greenhushing doesn’t just damage your brand, it damages the collective movement toward accountability, transparency, and real climate solutions.
How to Avoid Greenhushing
The pressure to ‘get it right’ with sustainability can make brands overly cautious, especially when goals are still evolving or results are imperfect.
Communicating your environmental impact, even when the journey is messy, is far better than saying nothing at all.
Here’s how your business can avoid falling into the trap of greenhushing:
- Be transparent about both progress and challenges
Honesty builds credibility. If you’ve made progress toward a target, share it. If you’ve fallen short or had to change direction, explain why. Most stakeholders understand that sustainability is complex, and what they value most is transparency.
- Communicate the context behind your decisions
When targets shift, it’s essential to communicate the reasoning. Providing clear context builds trust and helps stakeholders see the bigger picture, rather than assuming the worst.
- Use credible data and third-party verification
Support your claims with measurable outcomes such as carbon reduction figures, biodiversity gains, or case studies from restoration projects. Where possible, involve independent verifiers or standards. This strengthens the reliability of your reporting and reassures your audience that your efforts are legitimate.
- Integrate ESG into your broader business strategy
Sustainability can’t be an afterthought or a side project. It should be embedded across departments, with clear goals, accountability structures, and consistent communication. When ESG becomes part of your company’s core structure, reporting on it feels natural.
If you’re not sure where to start, our free ESG strategy guide offers a practical framework to help you develop sustainable goals, track progress, and communicate your impact confidently and credibly, without falling into the traps of greenwashing or greenhushing.
Climate Action with Integrity
One of the best ways to avoid greenhushing is to take action you can proudly talk about, that’s where nature-based solutions come in.
At Leaving a Legacy, we help businesses invest in restoration projects that deliver measurable, meaningful outcomes. From restoring biodiversity in the Kakamega Forest in Kenya to planting native species across degraded landscapes, our holistic restoration projects support both people and the planet.
Supporting nature restoration is a credible, inspiring way to prove your sustainability commitment.
