The great paradox of sustainability is that it is extremely complicated and yet, to make progress, we need to make it appear simple to wider audiences. Regular readers will know I have been mulling recently on the need to ‘simplicate’ sustainability – make it accessible without losing so much substance as to render it meaningless.

This topic came up at yesterday’s Corporate Sustainability Mastermind Group and during our discussion I alighted on the not terribly original analogy of an iceberg – that the visible tip is just a fraction of its mass. If we make the visible tip a simple compelling message along the lines of Marks & Spencer’s “Plan A, because there is no Plan B”, then we need to deftly back this up with all the evidence, caveats and nuances without detracting from that simple message.

So the sustainability section (or preferably the home page) of the corporate website, say, would have the 3-5 main pledges/targets and links would take the curious and/or sceptical deep into the evidence and thinking. While the former can be easily rattled off by everybody from the CEO to the cleaner, the detail will satisfy the curious and/or sceptical and, if done honestly, see off the risk of accusations of greenwash.