A media analysis carried out by Cision shows that discussions about ecological and social issues are becoming more heated and politically charged.

Articles in traditional media as well as posts on Twitter (now X), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, forums and Tumblr were examined in English, Spanish, French. German and Italian.

There are, however, significant differences in the emphasised placed on the key parts of ESG internationally, with most countries focused on social issues were, with values of up to around 70 per cent of ESG reporting. The media reports about and discusses human rights violations, racism, LGBTQ rights and wokeism.

In Germany the focus is very much on the environment and climate: during this assessment period, ecological issues increased by 74 per cent, social issues only by 8 per cent and corporate governance issues by even less at 6 per cent. The ecological topics focus on climate protests, heat waves and politics, such as the new climate protection law and the heating dispute. A total of 29 per cent of the feelings and sentiments across all ESG media contributions are negative, being characterised by anger, disgust, sadness or fear.

"Companies are becoming more and more transparent due to the increasing ESG reporting requirements, while at the same time being confronted to a somewhat greater extent with accusations of greenwashing. In terms of communications, they should show a clear stance on ESG issues and give specific examples of their progress," said Manuela Schreckenbach, head of insights consulting, DACH at Cision.

What is striking is that in all the languages that were analysed, the topic of corporate governance is only rarely mentioned in the context of ESG reporting. However, the analysis clearly shows that protests and politics determine the ESG agenda.

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