WHY DOES AN ESG MISSION FAIL WITHOUT STRATEGIC PR?
In January 2026, during the PR Roman Forum in Rome, we dedicated significant attention to green communication, social responsibility, ESG and sustainable heritage.
One of the key outcomes of the Forum was the Roman Declaration on Green Communication Responsibility – an initiative that recognizes a simple but important fact:
Communication professionals have a responsibility for how sustainability is communicated.
ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – is no longer simply a topic in an annual report.
For many organizations, ESG has become part of business strategy, reporting, risk management and stakeholder relations. European sustainability reporting requirements have also increased the importance of transparent and reliable information about an organization’s environmental and social impacts.
But there is one question we should ask more often:
What happens when an organization has an excellent ESG strategy, but nobody believes what it communicates?
This is where public relations becomes strategic.
ESG on paper means very little without trust
An organization can have ambitious sustainability goals, beautifully designed reports and sophisticated ESG strategies.
But if its communication does not correspond with its actual actions, trust can disappear very quickly.
This is why PR should never be reduced to creating messages, campaigns or attractive stories.
The responsibility of communication professionals is much greater.
We must ask:
Is what we are communicating supported by facts?
Can we prove what we are saying?
Does the organization’s behavior correspond with its communication?
And, perhaps most importantly:
Would we communicate the same message if we were not responsible for protecting the organization’s reputation?
This is where ethical PR becomes essential.
The PR professional must be an ethical filter
Greenwashing is not only a marketing problem.
It is a communication problem.
And it is a professional responsibility.
The role of a PR professional should never be simply to make an organization “look green”.
Our role is to help organizations communicate what they are actually doing – transparently, responsibly and based on evidence.
The Roman Declaration on Green Communication Responsibility was created precisely from this understanding.
We need communication based on verified information, measurable results, transparency and professional integrity.
Because sustainability without credible communication can easily become another corporate slogan.
ESG must start inside the organization
There is another issue that I consider equally important:
Employees.
One of the biggest mistakes an organization can make is to treat ESG as a responsibility of the management board, sustainability department or communication team alone.
If employees – from reception and accounting to procurement, production and sales – do not understand the organization’s ESG goals, how can we expect them to communicate or support those goals?
ESG must become part of organizational culture.
And that starts with knowledge.
Share the knowledge. Share the experience.
An employee who understands why the organization is changing its processes can become one of its most credible ambassadors.
That knowledge will not necessarily stay inside the company.
Employees will talk to their friends.
They will talk to their families.
They will share their experiences with their communities.
This is how organizational values become part of society – not through slogans, but through people.
PR is not an afterthought
Public relations professionals have never been – and should never be – an “afterthought” responsible for publishing decisions that have already been made by management.
PR is not the final communication station.
It should be part of the decision-making process.
Strategic communication professionals have the knowledge, tools, methods and experience to recognize how a message may be perceived by different stakeholders.
And this is particularly important today.
The media landscape has changed dramatically. Many local media outlets, in particular, no longer have the number of journalists or resources they once had.
As a result, organizations increasingly need to communicate directly with their stakeholders.
But that also creates a new responsibility.
When a company communicates information about sustainability, transparency or environmental responsibility, the message itself may be questioned – especially in an environment where audiences have become more skeptical and where misinformation and greenwashing are widespread.
That is why professional PR guidance matters.
Authentic communication does not start with the press release.
It starts with the truth behind the message.
ESG needs green communication responsibility
If ESG is increasingly becoming a regulatory and strategic requirement, then communication professionals must also accept their share of responsibility.
We cannot ask organizations to be sustainable while ignoring the sustainability of the information they communicate.
We cannot demand transparency while communicating only what is convenient.
And we cannot fight misinformation without first demanding evidence from ourselves.
This is why I believe the communication profession needs a stronger ethical framework for green communication.
The Roman Declaration on Green Communication Responsibility is one step in that direction.
It is an invitation to communication professionals, organizations and leaders to take responsibility for how sustainability is presented, understood and discussed.
Because ESG can define what an organization wants to achieve.
Strategy can define how it will achieve it.
But strategic PR must help ensure that what is communicated is true, understandable, evidence-based and credible.
In the end, it is not enough to be sustainable.
We must know how to communicate sustainability responsibly.
I invite communication professionals, organizations and everyone working in the field of PR, sustainability and ESG to join this initiative and support the Roman Declaration on Green Communication Responsibility.
Because responsible communication is not a trend.
It is our professional responsibility.