Is sustainability taking a back seat?

People are worried about inflation and the cost of living. The Trussell trust reported that between April 2023 and March 2024, approximately 655,000 individuals in the UK used a food bank for the first time During the same period, food banks in the Trussell Trust network distributed over 3.1 million emergency food parcels. This marks a 4% increase compared to the previous year and a 94% increase over the past five years. Those stats are genuinely scary, underscoring the challenges many individuals and families face in meeting basic nutritional needs. The increases in fuel and housing costs have put an unprecedented stress on household budgets so we need to make compromises and environmental sustainability is on this list.

This trend aligns with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where immediate economic concerns can overshadow higher-order aspirations like environmental sustainability. In the 1940’s, American Psychologist Abraham Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs which is usually shown as a pyramid. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), love and belonging needs (friendship), esteem, and self-actualisation.

People need to be satisfied by the needs lower down the pyramid before they can attend to higher needs so if we can’t feed ourselves or pay the bills, most people are far less likely to attend to the often costly goals of a sustainable lifestyle. There are numerous surveys showing that most Brits say that they are willing to pay more for sustainable products but in practice, most people won’t pay much more. Deloitte recently reported that the squeeze on household finances has led to a 15% reduction in people who purchase sustainable products (Down to 46% in April 2024) and the proportion of consumers citing cost as a barrier to adopting sustainable actions rose to 61%, up from 52% in 2024.

At Mindlab, we have conducted numerous studies delving into sustainable behaviours and what they have all shown is that most people believe that it is the responsibility of the government, brands and corporates to lead the way and make sizable changes that matter.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Thankfully, large businesses are actually doing their bit and in many cases more so than the public realise. Unilever’s 10 year sustainable living plan set out in 2009 is a great example.

One of our biggest clients is Diageo who own brands such as Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker. They are going above and beyond when it comes to ESG.
All of the 200 plus brands across Diageo are aligned to the company’s sustainability action plan Society 2030: Spirit of Progress. Headline targets include achieving net zero in direct operations by 2030, ensuring 100% of packaging is widely recyclable and on average reducing water usage by 30% across all the drinks produced.

When I speak to people at Diageo, it is clear that they all align, and are passionate for grain-to-glass sustainability. Diageo has invested in training and sustainability qualifications for all 1200+ staff across their Marketing and Innovation teams. This is clearly not greenwashing and shows real commitment to make systemic change across their global organisation.

And then there’s Apple who promise to bring its entire carbon footprint to net zero by 2030. They also aim to use 100% recycled or renewable materials in their products and packaging. Sounds good right? Maybe it is. There have however been many claims of greenwashing. For example, Apple markets some of its products like the Apple Watch as carbon neutral but this claim has been challenged in court. A 2025 lawsuit alleges that Apple’s carbon offset projects (e.g., reforestation programmes in Kenya and China)  do not counterbalance emissions from production. Apple states its “75% emissions reduction” on the Apple Watch is real, but critics claim the methodology lacks transparency. Personally, whilst green-washing should be called out, I am concerned that companies are scared to share their sustainability efforts and are ‘green-hushing’ because they are fearful of people’s responses.

I can’t write an article like this without  mentioning the words swimming round in my head “dig, baby dig”. The leader of the free world has a renewed focus on growth coming from new oil and gas drilling projects, As the potential of war increases in Europe there is a greater focus on security and climate deadlines are being pushed back and businesses such as BP are reducing their commitment to sustainability initiatives.

I do feel as though I should finish on a positive note. Despite claims of greenwashing companies are still investing in sustainability behind the scenes because of the long-term cost benefits and renewable  energy growth is stronger than ever. Let’s hope that sustainability is only in the back seat because it’s in a self-driving carbon neutral car.

Whilst I’m here, I also want to thank Tanya Popeau, former advisor to the United Nations for talking to us at the Mindlab Academy about how corporates can win by using sustainability to drive growth .You can read her interview here or about our work with Hearst magazines exploring the Sustainability Say-Do Gap.