How to Future-Proof Your Sustainability Story in the Age of AI
Recently, whilst at the Cannes Lions Festival, one theme dominated the conversation: AI.
Having followed the event for several years, I’ve seen creativity evolve fast. But this year marked a step change. AI was referenced in nearly every session, from campaign design to brand strategy. There was excitement, but also tension. Many creatives are inspired by its potential, while others are wary of what it means for originality, control and integrity.
Looking ahead, I believe AI will settle into its proper place: as a strategic co-pilot. Especially in communications—and even more so in sustainability communications.
Because as AI generates more content, the risk of generic, vague or duplicated sustainability messaging grows. Sameness is already everywhere. In that environment, credibility becomes a serious competitive edge.
The AI Risk: Acceleration Without Accountability
The brands most exposed right now are the ones relying on templated old-style ESG language with no embedded checks. AI can rapidly scale content, but it can also amplify inconsistency, vagueness and reputational risk.
Sustainability storytelling is under pressure from multiple angles:
Incoming regulation (e.g. EU Directive 2024/825)
Investor and NGO scrutiny
A more informed, sceptical public
Rising legal liability around greenwashing
And the biggest threats rarely come from outright misinformation (although this does happen). They come from almost true stories–overclaims, vague promises, or statements that don’t match the lived reality of the business.
Introducing the IMPACT Framework
To help clients avoid those risks and build credible, future-ready messaging, we use our proprietary IMPACT framework. It’s the filter we apply to every sustainability strategy, campaign and executive message we shape.
IMPACT stands for:
Integrity: Avoid vague claims, provide hard data
Meaning: Make it relevant to your audience (not just your company)
Proof: Show real progress, not just pledges
Action: Focus on what’s happening now, not just 2030/2040 goals
Consistency: Sustainability should be a long-term message, not just an annual report
Transparency: Acknowledge challenges and setbacks, not just successes.
If a message doesn’t pass this framework, it isn’t ready for external audiences.
Where AI Comes In, and Where It Doesn’t
AI is most powerful when it operates as a check, not a substitute. At HN Communications, we use AI tools to:
Sense-check tone
Benchmark language
Detect patterns and overclaims
Spot inconsistencies across messaging touchpoints
But this only works when the content has been built on a clear, credible foundation. Without that, AI often replicates and amplifies risk.
The Role of AI
In response to growing client needs, there are a growing number of AI-enabled tools designed to detect sustainability narrative risks before they become liabilities. We are building it because we need it, not to jump on the AI bandwagon.
Where could these tools really add value beyond the hype?
Regulatory frameworks (including Directive 2024/825 and green claims codes)
Pattern detection and scoring against credibility markers aligned to real-world evidence-based approaches like our IMPACT framework
AI has the potential not just to be a greenwashing detector. It is a narrative intelligence layer designed to help sustainability leaders and communications experts pre-empt the questions their stakeholders–and regulators–will be asking.
The Nuance Is Where the Risk Lives
The biggest challenges in sustainability comms often come down to nuance: the wrong phrase, a vague commitment, a sentence that over-promises without intent to deliver. This is where strategy, language and risk intersect.
Automation (may) never fully replace the judgment required to navigate those grey areas. But AI, applied correctly, can help us test, review and strengthen messaging before it reaches the public.
Preparing for 2026: What Smart Leaders Are Doing Now
Brands that want to lead in 2026 are doing three things:
Stress-testing their sustainability narratives with external scrutiny in mind
Auditing tone, language and claims across every touchpoint
Embedding AI support, but underpinned by strategic human oversight
If you're a sustainability or corporate communications specialist planning your 2026 approach, the time to review your narrative is now, not when legislation is enforced or questions are raised.
How can you future-proof your sustainability communications?
Start with the IMPACT framework, but if you want more help, I'm currently offering a limited number of 1:1 strategy sessions to help sustainability and communications leaders.
But if all you need is a simple takeaway to help your work, here’s my advice:
Audit your current messaging against the IMPACT framework
Identify risk areas that AI can help flag and test
Plan for a credibility-first, AI-smart 2026 communications strategy and get working on it now.
To book a session or discuss your current challenges, click here.
