In the grand theatre of global development over the past few decades, sustainability has taken centre stage. Yet, like a Yoruba Nollywood blockbuster without subtitles, its message often gets lost in translation. Enter the unsung heroes of narrative-shaping and storytelling: PR and communications professionals.
Since the 1987 Brundtland Report dropped its sustainable development bombshell followed by decades of United Nations (UN) advocacy on a global agenda for change, we’ve been grappling with a concept as slippery as okra soup. Sustainability––meeting present needs without compromising future generations––is a noble idea, but it’s been about as easy to implement as convincing Lagosians to obey traffic laws in a hot Friday afternoon go-slow.
The problem? Communication, or rather, the lack thereof. We’re facing a global game of Chinese whispers, where “sustainable development” enters one ear as “save the rainforest” and exits another as “but what about my next oil contract?” This example of miscommunication, misunderstanding and sometimes, deliberate apathy is particularly rife in emerging markets, where immediate developmental needs often overshadow long-term environmental concerns.
This is where PR and communications professionals must don their agbadas and step into the spotlight. We’re not just talking about crafting pretty press releases or staging photo-ops with CEOs planting trees in Abuja. No, this is about strategic communication that can advance the global sustainability agenda.
Think about it. Effective sustainability communication can be the difference between a sustainability strategy gathering dust on a shelf and one that’s embraced and implemented across a country, an industry or an organisation. It’s the difference between public indifference and engagement, between greenwashing and genuine progress.
PR professionals have an important role to play in this sustainability saga: framing the idea, setting the agenda, driving the narrative, engaging and convincing stakeholders, building trust for organisations, honestly reporting progress, collecting stakeholder feedback, acting on feedback, etc.
We need to be the translators, the educators, the trust-builders. We must help governments speak the language of sustainability to their citizens and to each other. We need to guide businesses in communicating their sustainability efforts honestly and effectively to their stakeholders. We need to bring the sustainability conversation into the mainstream, making it as familiar as discussions about jollof rice recipes (which, ironically, might become increasingly tied to sustainability issues as climate change affects rice production, and concerns about fair and ethical trade continue to rise).
But let’s be clear: this isn’t about slapping a green logo on a company website and calling it a day. It’s about strategic communication that drives real change. It’s about advising our clients and employers on how to authentically integrate sustainability into their operations and then communicate that integration effectively to both internal and external audiences.
We need to be the voice of reason in the room, preventing greenwashing, purpose washing, AI washing…. all forms of corporate dishonesty, and promoting transparency. We need to help frame the narrative of sustainability in ways that resonate with different audiences, whether it’s investors looking at long-term value creation or consumers making daily purchasing decisions.
More importantly, we need to contextualise sustainability in ways that make sense to our target audiences and their local realities, instead of blindly adopting generic ‘global’ perspectives, particularly in places like Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. PR and comms people are in the best position to translate cultural insights into strong execution.
As we commemorate World PR Day 2024, it is important to recognize the power and responsibility we hold as communication professionals. We’re not just communicators; we’re catalysts for global change. It’s time for PR and communications professionals to step up and take a leading role in driving sustainable development.