Pre-order now

Sustainability Storytelling: Communicate Trust, Brand Value and Better Business
Available May 2026

Format: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Publisher: Kogan Page
Publication Date: May 2026

Pre-order on Amazon
Pre-order on Kogan Page

If you’d like to purchase 50 or more copies for your organization, discounted bulk orders are available. To inquire about this, please contact us here.

Sustainability storytelling has never been more critical—or more complicated.

  • Stories without substance invite greenwashing scrutiny.

  • Messages that ignore context spark backlash.

  • Compelling claims without proof trigger legal risk.

  • And even real progress gets lost when communication fails to resonate.

With pressure rising from investors, customers, employees, and regulators, how you communicate sustainability is now both a liability and an opportunity.

Organizations that get it right—balancing context, compelling narrative, credible substance, and compliant messaging—turn sustainability storytelling into a business advantage. They build trust, strengthen brands, attract talent, reduce risk, and unlock new markets.

The book every sustainability communicator needs

Sustainability Storytelling is the definitive guide for communicators, marketers, and sustainability leaders navigating today’s high-stakes landscape.

Drawing on insights from leaders at PepsiCo, Salesforce, SAP, Veolia, Apollo Global Management, and others—as well as the author’s unique perspective as both a journalist scrutinizing corporate claims and a strategist helping companies craft them—this book provides a practical framework for stories that inform, inspire, and withstand scrutiny.

This is a playbook for influencing stakeholders—often without authority—by translating sustainability strategy into narratives that drive real business and societal impact.

What you’ll learn

  • The Four C's Framework: Master Context, Compelling, Credible, and Compliant storytelling—and understand how to balance all four.

  • Strategic Assessment: Evaluate your organization’s storytelling maturity and build a strategy grounded in business priorities.

  • Risk Navigation: Avoid greenwashing through substance-backed messaging and smart legal collaboration.

  • Global Nuance: Adapt sustainability stories across cultures, industries, and reputation landscapes.

  • Cross-Functional Alignment: Bring sustainability, communications, and legal teams together to create stories that land—and last.

  • Real-World Application: Put principles into practice with templates, frameworks, and case studies from leading companies.

Who this book is for

Communications, marketing and PR professionals

Turn sustainability into compelling narratives that build trust, engage stakeholders, and drive business value—while managing greenwashing risk.

Sustainability professionals

Leverage communication to accelerate sustainability goals, align cross-functional teams, and drive action across stakeholders.

Academics and students

For professors: teachable frameworks grounded in practice. For students: career-ready skills for sustainability and communications roles.

Chapters

Part I: Foundations

  • Why traditional sustainability communication falls flat—and what effective storytelling actually looks like.

  • How we got here: the evolution of corporate sustainability and the communication challenges that came with it.

  • Connecting sustainability to business value—and communicating that connection to skeptical stakeholders.

Part II: The Four C’s Framework

  • Understanding the landscape before you speak: how external factors shape what you can (and can't) credibly say.

  • The elements that make sustainability narratives memorable, shareable, and actionable.

  • How to ensure your claims hold up to scrutiny—and signal authenticity to skeptical audiences.

  • Navigating the regulatory landscape: what you can say, what you can't, and how to stay on the right side of the law.

Part III: Strategy & Execution

  • From stakeholder mapping to message architecture: creating a strategic foundation for all your sustainability communication.

  • Practical techniques for turning complex sustainability initiatives into clear, compelling narratives.

  • How to get your sustainability message out—channels, timing, formats, and tactics for reaching diverse stakeholders.

Part IV: Alignment

  • Getting buy-in from communications, marketing, legal, and leadership—so sustainability stories are told consistently and confidently.

  • Aligning public policy engagement with sustainability communication for coherent external positioning.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • May 3 in the United Kingdom and Canada.

    May 26 in the United States and the rest of the world.

    Pre-order now to get the book right when it comes out in your region.

  • Hardcover, paperback, and eBook (Kindle and other formats).

  • No—the frameworks and strategies apply to organizations of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

  • Yes. Contact us for corporate bulk pricing and team training packages.

  • The book will be available globally through major retailers. Published by Kogan Page.