#Knowledge
Climate strategy & accounting
A well-founded climate strategy is an important part of credible and sustainable business development. However, it is only through targeted communication that it can have an impact both internally and externally and make the transformation process visible. Companies that communicate their climate targets, measures and progress clearly provide guidance, support implementation and strengthen stakeholder trust. At the same time, the requirements of the Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo) highlight the importance of a robust foundation for communicating climate targets.
Greenhouse gas emissions have been calculated, climate targets defined and realistic emission reduction measures developed. Communicating these individual elements helps make a company’s sustainability efforts visible and may even be subject to disclosure requirements in certain cases, for example when a company has its climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Regardless of such requirements, a climate strategy can only realise its full potential when the people responsible for implementing and supporting it understand its objectives and underlying rationale. Climate communication therefore goes far beyond publishing climate targets or enhancing a company’s external image.
A climate strategy often affects numerous business functions – from management and procurement to production, logistics and sales. Its successful implementation therefore depends on more than just those responsible for sustainability management.
Not every employee or department needs to be informed about every detail. Instead, the relevance of the climate strategy to their respective responsibilities needs to be made clear.
The following questions are particularly important:
Targeted internal communication translates strategic objectives into clear, accessible messages and explains what changes are required across different business functions. For example, sourcing lower-emission materials, improving energy efficiency or collaborating with suppliers can become concrete areas for action.
At the same time, transparent communication helps employees identify with the climate strategy. Informing them at an early stage, involving them in change processes and regularly updating them on progress can strengthen their motivation and willingness to contribute.
The key is to ensure that communication is not a one-off activity. It should continuously accompany the implementation of the climate strategy and provide opportunities for questions, ideas and feedback. This allows a strategic corporate objective to become a shared responsibility that can be embedded in everyday business operations.
Externally, a well-founded climate strategy provides valuable opportunities for communication. Customers, business partners and other stakeholders increasingly want to understand how a company manages its greenhouse gas emissions and what measures it is taking in the short and long term. Many companies already expect their suppliers to establish science-based climate targets.
However, communicating ambitious climate targets alone is not enough. What matters is transparently explaining the path towards achieving them and supporting it with realistic measures.
The following questions should be addressed:
The climate strategy provides the technical foundation, while a transition plan translates it into concrete implementation steps. Here, too, not every detail needs to be explained to customers, business partners and other stakeholders. The focus should be on communicating the essential information clearly and understandably.
Credible climate communication does not mean highlighting successes alone. Challenges, deviations from targets and measures that have not yet delivered the desired results are also part of transparently presenting the transformation process. This openness, in particular, can help build trust.
The Empowering Consumers Directive (EmpCo) plays an important role in sustainability communication. Its requirements have been implemented in Germany through the Act Against Unfair Competition (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG).
Environmental advertising claims must be specific, understandable and substantiated. In particular, claims about a company’s future environmental performance, such as announced emission reductions or climate targets, must be based on clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments in accordance with Section 5 (3) No. 4 UWG.
These commitments must be set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan containing measurable, time-bound targets and other relevant elements required for implementation, such as the allocation of resources. The plan must also be regularly reviewed by an independent external expert.
This makes one thing clear: A publicly communicated climate target requires more than an ambitious statement of intent. A well-founded climate strategy, supported by a robust greenhouse gas inventory, measurable emission reduction targets and concrete measures, creates essential conditions for transparent communication that meets regulatory requirements.
Companies should therefore not view the new requirements as a reason to refrain from climate communication. Instead, they highlight the importance of thoughtfully integrating strategy, implementation and communication.
Fokus Zukunft supports companies in developing a well-founded climate strategy and communicating it effectively to different target groups. Our interdisciplinary team of climate strategists and communication experts helps companies present their climate strategies clearly and transparently, both internally and externally, while taking regulatory requirements into account.
A Solid Strategy Provides the Foundation – Communication Makes It Effective
Internally, communication provides guidance, encourages participation and helps integrate sustainability into business decisions. Externally, it makes targets, measures and progress understandable and can strengthen the trust of customers and business partners.
The requirements of the EmpCo Directive further emphasise the importance of a robust strategic foundation when communicating future environmental performance.
Companies that consider climate strategy and communication together from the outset create the conditions for turning well-founded targets into tangible action and individual measures into a credible transformation process.
