How Brands Can Help Save the Planet

A GROWEING NUMBER number of global consumers believe time is running out to save the planet from serious damage to the environment — but brands can help turn the tide.

New global research from Mintel revealed a crisis in eco-confidence. The number of consumers globally who agree with the statement, “If we act now, we still have time to save the planet,” has declined seven percentage points from a majority of 55% in 2021 to a minority of 48% in 2024.

Sharp decreases in such confidence were identified in the UK and Germany. In the former, this sentiment has slipped from 54% to 44% and Germany declined from 49% to 36%. In fact, Germany has the lowest belief that there is still time to save the planet of any countries surveyed.

Mintel tracked the environmental and social priorities, purchasing behaviors, engagement and level of understanding of sustainability topics among 10,000 consumers from 10 countries: the USA, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, India and Japan.

“Brands should play a role in reassuring and educating people, but the challenge is that people are skeptical about brands’ green credentials,” said Richard Cope, Senior Trends Consultant, Mintel Consulting. “Over a third (35%) of consumers globally don’t trust companies to be honest about their environmental impact. Although this figure has been fairly static since 2021, it is not improving and poses a major challenge to brands, especially in Europe, where nearly half of consumers voice distrust.”

Cope recommends that brands deploy clear communication and metrics to encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices.

He said the top consumer choice for the type of on-pack sustainability claim or label that would significantly impact their purchasing decision is a Nutriscore-style, simple rating scale (selected by 30% of global consumers polled) that shows the environmental impact (for example, a 1-5 scale or red/yellow/green color coding) of a product.

“For consumers, a single label could ultimately liberate them from a dizzying, distracting and confusing array of competing organic, fair trade and other claims,” Cope said.

The second most popular on-pack sustainability claim or label people are looking for, he said, is information on the product’s impact on people (for example, number of farmers lifted out of poverty) chosen by 27% of global consumers.

“Our research shows that this signals a need for the climate crisis—and its solutions—to be humanized,” he said.

“As climate change has developed into a public health crisis of killer heatwaves and pollution, personal health should be positioned and prioritized as a benefit of sustainable products, wherever possible,” he said. “For brands’ sustainability campaigns to be more effective, they need to focus on showing the benefits to consumers in terms of efficiency, frugality and wellbeing on an individual level, ahead of their benefits to the overall environment.”

But for now, people are also becoming less convinced that they personally can make a difference in the planet’s future, with a fall in the number of consumers globally who believe their actions can make a positive difference to the environment, slipping from 51% in 2021 to 47% in 2024.

“Whilst experiencing climate change and its existential and public health threats can awaken and engage consumers, a growing realization of the scale of the increasingly pressing challenges can also erode optimism and create a sense of feeling overwhelmed,” Cope said. “This is exactly what we’ve seen play out during the course of this extensive, multi-year study, with the belief that ‘we still have time to save the planet’ ebbing away.

“Increasing exposure to extreme events, media coverage of successive COP events and eco-activists all play a role in lessening the belief that we can save the planet. While activism, legal challenges and legislation serve to educate consumers on their rights and sharpen their awareness of what brands should be doing and what constitutes greenwashing, for some, increasing education is contributing to despondency,” he said.