There is no such thing as “climate fatigue”

Europeans have not grown tired of climate action. They are simply tired of the political failure to take action. That’s what a new policy brief from Bruegel, the Brussels-based economic think tank, confirms. It’s also what our own research has been showing for some time.

The Bruegel study, based on a survey of nearly 8,000 respondents across five EU countries, finds that concern about climate change remains remarkably stable. Only around 10 percent of Europeans believe no action is needed.

Environmental sustainability ranks as a top three EU-policy priority. It currently sits at the same level as immigration, a topic that receives far greater media attention. And crucially, climate concern cuts across all socio-economic groups.

The level of concern has not changed, but the level of trust has.

Or, at least, the trust in politicians has. Citizens increasingly doubt whether governments can deliver an effective and fair transition. That is not climate fatigue but a sign of an increasing institutional fatigue.

For the business community, this creates both a risk and an opportunity.

Our own research through the Net Credibility Score (NCS), a scientific instrument developed with Ghent University that measures message credibility, reveals a parallel pattern. In Belgium and the Netherlands alike, we find that citizens trust companies significantly more than politicians when it comes to climate and sustainability.

However, and this is the critical nuance, they do not believe the way companies communicate about their efforts.

The trust is there. The credibility of the message is not.

Many companies have gone quiet on their sustainability efforts, a phenomenon often called greenhushing. Our data suggests this is the wrong response to the wrong diagnosis.

The public has not stopped caring. They have stopped believing.

Those are two very different problems, and only one of them is within your control.

Through our scientific research with Ghent University, including both the NCS and the Responsible Business Index (RBi), we have identified what makes sustainability communication credible and what undermines it. The findings are concrete, measurable, and actionable. The research also established that companies that communicate credibly, create value.

The conclusion is straightforward: silence is not a strategy. Speaking up is. But only if you know how to do it credibly.