How to write a great sustainability report — without losing your mind

How’s that sustainability report going? 

This is not a question that tends to generate joyous replies. Sustainability reports are complex beasts, spanning multiple reporting frameworks and topics that range from water to waste. They’re also long, and getting longer: The average length of a 2024 sustainability report was 83 pages, up 20 percent in three years, according to a study of 250 large companies.

In a bid to make report writing less painful and the results more impactful, Trellis asked leading sustainability professionals and communication experts to share their wisdom. Here’s what they told us.

Preparation is everything

Don’t write a word until you’ve figured out a few key things — not least who you’re writing for. 

“Clarify your audience, then focus on them,” said Luke Elder, sustainability reporting lead at Google. “Writing for everyone can lead to writing for no one. Identify your primary audiences, and work to deliver a transparent report that meets their needs written in a way that they understand.”

Think equally hard about what to put in, says Anuraag Jhawar, senior manager for ESG reporting and strategy at Salesforce. He suggests conducting a landscape analysis to identify the frameworks, peer reports, and audience priorities that you want to include. Then consider what you can lose from the list. “Narrow your focus — then narrow it again,” said Erin Koch, ESG director at Prologis. 

Finally, make friends with the people you need to contribute. “Early involvement and collaboration” with internal subject matter experts is critical, said Cara Mooses, senior director for sustainability and ESG corporate strategy at BDO. 

Don’t get too chummy, though. “Hold contributors and editors accountable with the following magical phrase: ‘Your edits, received by DATE, will be considered for inclusion,’” added Koch. “This keeps you in control of the report content and prevents ‘too many cooks.’ It also prevents your report from ballooning to 200 pages.” (If that sounds unlikely, know this: The longest report included in the survey mentioned above ran to 211 pages.)

Honesty is more interesting and effective

Corporate reports are often filled with meaningless PR-speak. That’s understandable at a time when companies fear the label of greenwasher. But it’s also a missed opportunity.

“Communications is a way to establish trust with all your stakeholders, and that can only be done if you are transparent, provide the right context, and explain things properly,” said Remston Martis, a sustainability consultant at Works Design, a consultancy in Toronto.

Koch cited a surprising example: British American Tobacco, which once produced a report structured around what she called four to five “brutally honest questions,”such as “Why would anyone want to work for a tobacco company?” and “Can you really make a healthier cigarette?” “That kind of candor makes a sustainability report interesting and, as a result, a much more effective communications vehicle,” said Koch. “Be original. Have something to say.” 

Sustainability strategist Chelsey Evans, founder of the Viable Future consultancy, pointed to the approach taken by the tech company Atlassian. Each of the four sections on the company’s webpage for its latest sustainability report — Planet, People, Customers, Community — contains a prominent “Where we fell short” heading. In the Planet section, for example, the company noted that business travel emissions rose 73 percent year-over-year. The full report provides more information on the steps Atlassian is taking to reverse the trend.

Failing to acknowledge negative events will not convince investors and other readers that mistakes were not made, added Martis. All companies err, and as these reports are a chance to talk about responses you’re better off acknowledging failures. “What [readers] really want to hear is how you are going to learn from them. How are you going to improve?”

Look to others for inspiration

• HVAC specialist Trane Technologies does a good job of summarizing the year’s highlights upfront, noted Beat Stocker, senior director for global sustainability at Whirlpool.

• Want an example of a report that manages to be both concise and useful? Evans recommended the latest from luxury clothesmaker Canada Goose, which squeezed its 2024 edition into just 28 pages.

• Target’s most recent report is “well organized, simple and on brand,” said BDO’s Mooses.

• Last year, Levi Strauss published a designed Climate Transition Plan (CTP) alongside an environmental goals and metrics update that looked like a financial filing, noted Elder at Google. “I admire how Levi’s is adjusting their strategy for the moment, with a glossy CTP that’s engaging and informative, and a narrative and data-focused annual update for year-over-year consistency.”

• It’s important to be clear about how a change in reporting methodology can affect sustainability metrics, Martis said. He cited the 2024 report of energy company Orsted, which explained why the organization restated some data from the previous year. 

[Gain insights to move beyond incremental action and accelerate the shift to a circular economy at Circularity, April 29-May 1, Denver, CO.]