Are you pandering or participating this World Earth Day?

Each year, millions of people across the globe connect to celebrate Earth Day, paying homage to the environmental movement, which has never been stronger.

Today (22 April) is Earth Day, a global event that aims to highlight the importance of the environment and bring more awareness to the issues that threaten it. This annual event was set up in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, who was a US senator and environmentalist, with the hope of it engaging the public and pushing green issues to the national agenda.

In the year 2024, it has never been more important for organisations and businesses to throw their support and commitment towards environmental issues. You will see a number of organisations magnify their environmental practices today, proclaiming their values are aligned with those of the pro-environmental movement.

Many businesses already have thrown their hat in the mix and are pledging to strategies like carbon reduction; however, more often than not, these pledges are merely acts of pandering, which can fail to land.

A recent study by Culture AMP has put the environmental credentials of organisations to the test and found that a genuine commitment to realistic sustainability practices resonates better with employees rather than the dramatic and sometimes pretentious demonstrations of environmental pledges.

The report highlighted that at organisations where people felt genuine commitment to sustainability and social impact, there was a 16-percentage point higher score in employee engagement compared to when it was absent.

Active sustainability plans allow employees to act directly on this issue and achieve a form of social impact. For example, a tactic that was used by an organisation was to give employees a day off once per quarter to volunteer in some form of an environmental activity.

These organisations were rated, on average, 15 percentage points higher in perceived commitment to social responsibility. Organisations that implemented these sustainability plans saw commitment to social responsibility climb from 67 per cent to 82 per cent, showing the impact of realistic environmental practices.

Fresia Jackson, lead researcher at Culture Amp, commented: “While setting science-based targets is an important first step, our research shows that such targets need to be part of a broader climate change strategy.”

“Employees are wise to the fact that companies tend to make promises they don’t keep. So how those targets are set, communicated, and acted upon is paramount for creating a demonstrable impact on employee commitment and motivation.”

As more organisations pander towards the environmental struggle, today’s Earth Day could be a platform to refocus ideals towards realistic practices. Involving employees directly in this process could make that integration a whole easier and really improve that engagement.