Climate Justice Requires More Than Carbon Accounting

Climate change isn’t hitting everyone equally. Areas most at risk to climate disasters, often referred to as “frontline communities,” tend to be the ones that are already closest to factories that spew air and water pollution, waste dumps that send toxins into the soil and water, or truck routes that send clouds of diesel exhaust into surrounding areas. As brands shape their climate goals and sustainability messaging, understanding and addressing those inequities will be crucial to success—especially as the impacts accelerate and awareness grows among employees and consumers. “The people who are most affected by those environmental and economic effects of the climate crisis are left behind in the solution that a lot of these companies are touting today,” said JaRel Clay, digital director at the Hip Hop Caucus. Initiatives from brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Dr. Bronner's and Walmart exemplify how environmental justice can be implemented throughout sustainability marketing efforts, but those efforts remain outliers in the broader advertising landscape. It starts with a diverse team Like every other issue related to diversity, equity and inclusion, marketing teams must represent the experiences of a wide range of identities. Clay pointed to several missed opportunities. Major consumer packaged goods brands—many of which consistently rank as the world's biggest plastic polluters, according to nonprofit Break Free From Plastic's annual audits—target frontline communities with their messaging without acknowledging the landfill waste next door or the sharp smell of pollution drifting over from petrochemical plants. We have an opportunity to use our marketing and advertising platforms to engage people in the issues.Christopher Miller, head of global activism strategy, Ben & Jerry’s Climate justice messaging that resonates requires "someone being in the room to [say], 'Hey, this all sounds great. But if you look at the landfills about a mile away from the communities that you're targeting, they're filled with all of your products. And it's contributing to environmental issues in their area,'" Clay said. Building a team that can point out those unseen areas can help identify where the brand is well-positioned to speak on certain issues, and where it still has work to do. More than emissions Understanding how climate justice interacts with product is the first step to building environmental justice into brand messaging. In beauty, for example, that can mean realizing that harmful chemicals are more frequently found in products targeting people of color—compounding exposure that’s already disproportionately higher for communities of color. “It's not just about reducing your carbon emissions,” said Alissa Sasso, a project manager at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Sasso works with retailers and brands to help them remove toxic chemicals from their products. Read Our 3-Part Series on How Advertising and Marketing Can Spur Climate Action “It's about thinking about what's in your products and your packaging, and addressing all the potential impacts of your products to ensure that you're actually driving change and making sure that people are able to live a healthy life,” she said. EDF recently published a road map for retailers to help companies like Walmart establish standards for clean beauty justice. It recommends improving supply chain transparency, informing consumers through packaging labels and online, incorporating safer product design and making public commitments around the issue. Brands can be activists, too Brands like Ben & Jerry's and Patagonia have made advocacy central to their brand identities. About a third of content produced by the Unilever-owned, Vermont-based ice cream maker isn't about ice cream at all, said Christopher Miller, head of global activism strategy at Ben & Jerry’s. Instead, it's educational messaging around issues like climate change, environmental justice, cannabis justice and structural racism. "We have an opportunity to use our marketing and advertising platforms to engage people in the issues," Miller said. "We help contextualize the issue in a way that resonates with people, putting an equity lens on it and providing ways for them to take action." For example, the brand's blog posted an explainer linking climate change and racial justice back in 2017, and another in 2020. Amid a rise in disinformation online, Miller said Ben & Jerry's fans have a high level of trust in the brand's messaging. That's also true of Patagonia, Miller said. "Often, the most credible players in this space are willing to not just tell you about how they operate as a business, but how they are part of driving larger society-wide change," he said. T.L. Stanley contributed reporting to this story. This story is part of Adweek’s The State of Sustainability digital package, which spotlights climate-focused marketing solutions across the beauty, experiential and media spaces, and examines how an industry that was built to drive consumption is adapting to reduce its impact. 5 Charts Showing Not All Hope Is Lost on Climate Change

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Beyond Net Zero: Climate Justice Requires More Than Carbon Accounting

Brand sustainability efforts must work to correct—rather than replicate—environmental injustices

Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom