Exploring How Language Serves as a Barrier to Achieving Sustainability Goals

Sustainability needs to be demystified and easy to understand BY EVERYONE, not just scientists, not just the people writing the rules and standards. EVERYONE.

We need to simplify the language and explain sustainability standards, goals and targets in a language that makes us feel they are possible to achieve.

When I first became a Green Manager at Hotel Doolin in 2013, one of the first things I attempted to do was read the ISO 14001, an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems.

I remember that morning as if it was yesterday. Learning about environmental sustainability was not just a passion of mine, it was a necessity. I had suffered from eco-anxiety for a decade at that stage and finding solutions to environmental degradation seemed like the only way to escape that torment.

When I started reading the documentation, I felt stupid.

I felt unable to follow the words and understand what they were telling me.

I felt totally inadequate and unable to take action on sustainability.

Language is the principal method of human communication. It has evolved over the years so we can communicate and understand each other.

But language can also be a barrier when we don’t understand what the words and sentences are telling us.

Over the years working as the CEO of an educational company, there has been many instances where I have felt that big wall, that barrier that makes us feel like we cannot do something.

But why?

Why do we continue to make things more difficult than they should be?

Sustainable development requires that society makes changes to the way we live, the way we work and the way we act. In order for this enormous change to happen, we need to educate and train billions of people around the world.

At Fifty Shades Greener we work with business owners and employees in a daily basis. Most of them, are keen to learn and make the necessary changes, yet, when they try to understand sustainability standards, they are faced with the same language barrier as I did at the start of my own green journey.

Demystifying Sustainability

Sustainability needs to be demystified and easy to understand BY EVERYONE, not just scientists, not just the people writing the rules and standards. EVERYONE.

We need to simplify the language and explain sustainability standards, goals and targets in a language that makes us feel they are possible to achieve. Right now, we are doing the exact opposite.

I understand that the very nature of “standards” is to be technical, but I think this is a cop out. Should it not be the responsibility of the standard committee to make every effort to ensure they are written in plain language that even a layman could understand?

Perhaps “clarity” should be a Standard’s writer key performance indicator amongst others?

Last month I assigned myself the enjoyable task of analysing the ESRS., which are the reporting standards for sustainability within the new EU CSRD directive. These standards are soon to be mandatory for reporting for large size organisations operating within the EU.

My first thought? Oh crap, here we go again!!

I hate moaning, I am a solutions-focused person so this is not a “giving out” article, this is the start of a campaign I want to take on for 2024.

I am committed to effect the necessary changes and speak to ISO, the EU, the UN and anyone that needs to understand that using complicated language, is alienating many people from being able to do the right thing, after all, we all have to same common goal, how we communicate that goal, is as important as the goal itself.

By Raquel Noboa, founder and CEO of Fifty Shades Greener

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FE News on the go

Welcome to FE News on the Go, the podcast that delivers exclusive articles from the world of further education straight to your ears.

We are experimenting with Artificial Intelligence to make our exclusive articles even more accessible while also automating the process for our team of project managers.

In each episode, our thought leaders and sector influencers will delve into the most pressing issues facing the FE.

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