Looking to partner with a PR agency with a strong understanding of ESG and its importance? We’d love to chat.
By Tara Greenman-Sparrow, ESG Lead at Speed
In today’s communications landscape, a brand’s reputation is not just shaped by its campaigns and what it says but also by who it chooses to partner with.
While evidence of creative ideation, media contacts and campaign results are a vital way to evaluate a PR agency, it’s important to look beyond the immediate deliverables to ensure that the agency’s values, behaviours and business practices align with your brand or business as well. For marketing leaders navigating growing scrutiny around sustainability and corporate responsibility, this means taking a closer look at agency ESG credentials.
Audience expectations around ESG have evolved rapidly in recent years. Consumers, investors, employees and regulators are all paying closer attention to how businesses operate, communicate and deliver against sustainability commitments. Today, brands need to prove ESG progress – with vague claims and well-intentioned statements can face intense scrutiny.
In fact, according to Mintel’s UK Everyday Sustainability Consumer Report 2025, 72% of consumers believe sustainability will become an even greater priority for brands over the next five years. Meanwhile, Edelman’s 2025 Trust Barometer found that brands are now trusted more than traditional institutions putting them in the spotlight when it comes to ethics, transparency and accountability.
Businesses and brands are also closely watched by the media, their customers and investors on their environmental and social impact. Concerns around greenwashing and greenhushing continue to grow, with vague, exaggerated or unsubstantiated ESG claims challenged by regulators, journalists and consumers. The social and human impact of business operations – from diversity and inclusion to supply chain ethics – are also regularly spotlighted by the media. News headlines regularly demonstrate how quickly coverage can escalate when businesses are perceived to be over-claiming sustainability credentials, overlooking labour risks within supply chains or not aligning messaging with operational reality.
Added to this, legislation is reshaping how businesses report and communicate environmental and social impact. From California’s climate disclosure laws to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), businesses are under increasing pressure to provide transparent, evidence-based reporting around emissions, supply chains, governance and human rights.
This evolution means that ESG communications are more closely intertwined with legal, investor and reputational risk management. It has changed the shape of PR in this space, and in turn, how an agency should be selected.
Communicating sustainability initiatives now requires agencies to help businesses navigate stakeholder expectations and manage reputational risk, while also ensuring all claims are robustly evidenced and aligned with the increasingly complex ESG landscape.
Essentially, it requires agencies that can combine communications expertise, with commercial nous and awareness of reputational risks to provide strategic consultancy.
In this environment, an agency’s own ESG standing becomes increasingly important.
Agencies with strong ESG foundations are often better positioned to support brands navigating sustainability communications because they understand the challenges first-hand. Their own experience embedding ESG into operations, culture and governance can help them identify gaps between ambition and evidence, provide more informed strategic counsel while understanding the nuances associated with sustainability communications.
Strong ESG practices can also provide insight into the agency itself. Businesses that invest in sustainability, employee wellbeing, diversity, governance and community impact often build stronger internal cultures and more resilient businesses overall. In agency environments, this can translate into lower staff turnover, stronger strategic thinking and better collaboration – all of which contribute to better results and lasting relationships.
At Speed, we know that while the PR industry may have a lower direct environmental impact than many sectors, we still have a responsibility to reduce our footprint and contribute positively to the communities around us. This shared responsibility shapes how we operate internally and how we support clients externally.
From switching to renewable energy suppliers and embedding more sustainable operational practices across the business, to working with suppliers who share our environmental ambitions, we are committed to taking practical steps to reduce our impact. To date, since 2021 we have reduced our carbon footprint by 39% compared to our 2019 baseline.
Alongside environmental initiatives, we also aim to have a positive impact socially. Through our partnership with Not Impossible, we provide mentoring, internships and work experience opportunities for young people from minority groups to create more accessible routes into the PR industry and supporting future talent development. We’re also supporting our charity partner, 1625 Independent People in preventing youth homelessness and helping vulnerable young people across Bristol by providing the charity with pro bono communications as well as through our own fundraising and volunteering initiatives.
As ESG continues to evolve from a standalone initiative into a core component of reputation management and business operations, the relationship between brands and their agency partners will become an even greater focus.
Working with a PR agency with aligned values and credible ESG practices can deliver authentic and strategic communications that help protect and strengthen brand reputation.