The Next Era of Environmental Marketing: Adapt, Reframe, and Build Resilience
Several executive orders have dramatically shifted the nation’s environmental and energy policies. The halt of $300 billion in federal clean energy funding, withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and declaration of a national energy emergency in favor of fossil fuel development have all created a landscape that feels like a sharp U-turn. Federal leasing for wind farms has paused, and support for EVs and renewable energy projects has been rescinded. Yet despite all of these jolts, the need for environmental solutions remains.
Abby Hopper, President of SEIA, said it best, “Solar, now a US$60 billion industry, is adding more new capacity to the U.S. grid than any other fuel source amid the largest increase in electricity demand since World War II. It’s clear that we will not reach Trump’s vision for American energy dominance or technological innovation without continued solar and energy storage growth.”For businesses built on a sustainable product or service or that have invested in sustainability programs, these policy shifts will be an initial challenge but will ultimately be the resiliency maker that creates staying power. The question is, how will brands stay resilient, competitive, and relevant when the federal government is pulling back? Those who rely solely on incentives and compliance-driven sustainability will need to source new strategies, strengthen consumer trust, own brand messaging, and drive engagement through effective environmental marketing. Here’s what will shape the next five years of environmental marketing and what brands must understand to stay ahead, adapt, and thrive.
1. Narrative Engineering will decide who wins the conversation
Being ahead of the framing game will help lead the narrative for many companies with sustainable products, services, and initiatives. Words like “sustainability,” “green,” and “eco-conscious” have been politicized, misrepresented, and in some cases, weaponized. Even “climate change” has been dismissed as false news in certain circles, making it harder for brands to communicate fundamental, data-backed efforts without facing skepticism.
Companies leading the way in sustainability, renewable energy, and environmental innovation will benefit from reframing their messaging. Rather than relying on terms that trigger resistance, brands must communicate their impact in new ways that connect with consumer values, whether that’s economic opportunity, energy resilience, long-term business security, or resource efficiency. The companies that master this shift will cut through the noise and shape new conversations instead of reacting to old ones.
“For too long, brands making a real impact have been stuck reacting to conversations about the environment instead of leading them. The most influential investors, buyers, and executives, along with employees at every level, ultimately want the same thing, meaningful engagement that drives action. However, not everyone knows how to start or sustain these critical conversations across different audiences. That’s where we come in. What we’ve built is more than messaging, it’s a multidisciplinary approach that transforms how sustainability is communicated, making our clients Always Resilient.”
— Denise Rivas, Co-founder/CEO of A.R. Environmental.
2. Corporate Newsrooms will grow as consumers turn to credibility-focused information
In 2020, 27% of polled Americans said they didn’t have very much trust in the media. That percentage jumped to 33% in 2024. Trust in traditional media is at an all-time low, and people are looking elsewhere for credible information. These media outlets are also fragile in their funding sources and rely heavily on subscriptions and advertising dollars. Brands have the opportunity to lead their industries by becoming the go-to source for reliable sustainability news, insights, and analysis, offering consistent, valuable, and credible resources that drive real engagement.
Brands have an even greater opportunity to adopt edu-marketing strategies relevant to their area of expertise. By providing real value, curating, fact-checking, and breaking down complex environmental issues, brands can use their marketing dollars to become a Corporate Newsroom that delivers helpful information. Those who do will help people better understand environmental topics and solutions, especially in their areas of expertise, helping them be confident decision makers for better B2B and B2C purchases. This positions an organization as a market leader, as it uses the current opportunity to provide a need.
3. ESG reporting and guidelines aren’t going anywhere; we may just start calling it ‘Risk-Driven Sustainability’
ESG language may see some shifts, but that doesn’t mean businesses benefit from abandoning them. At its core, ESG Reports have become a high-level tool to identify risks and opportunities. So, no matter what the official name is, ESGs as a tool and a concept, will continue to be used across corporate structures for evaluation, strategizing, and future-proofing an organization.
The shift we’ll see? A reframing of ESG from a “nice-to-have” into a risk mitigation tool. Brands will justify their ESG commitments in terms of ethics and protecting themselves from financial and reputational risks, as they help determine single and double materiality factors. This means how sustainability issues impact a company’s financial performance (single materiality) and double materiality, which determines both the financial impact and the company’s impact on society and the environment.
4. AI will make or break brand credibility
AI is already transforming marketing, but it’s a double-edged sword in environmental marketing.
On one hand, AI can supercharge efficiency, analyze trends, and help organize content. On the other, it can lead to widespread misinformation that can deepen consumer skepticism. The brands that blindly rely on AI-generated sustainability claims without fact-checking will lose credibility overnight.
“AI is an exciting tool, and I look forward to its evolution. But human discernment and expertise are still essential when it comes to merging science, technical writing, and educational content into a multidisciplinary marketing strategy. AI learns from what we feed it, and unless this is your niche, you won’t find these capabilities widely available on open platforms. At A.R. Environmental, we’re advancing our own internal AI-driven applications and software, soon available to our clients, to ensure they remain Always Resilient.”
— Christina Anderson, Co-founder/CSO at A.R. Environmental
Expect a bigger push for human oversight, ensuring that AI-generated content aligns with regulatory standards and verifiable facts, because greenwashing, intentional or not, will be called out faster than ever.
5. Be resilient to cyber-political changes by owning your channels
If TikTok shutting down taught marketing professionals anything, it’s this: If you don’t own it, you can quickly lose it. Social media platforms, algorithms, and ad policies constantly shift; brands relying too heavily on third-party platforms are vulnerable.
The solution? Double down on owned content channels, email marketing, branded content hubs, direct community engagement, and long-form thought leadership. Your email list, website traffic, and proprietary research are assets no one can take from you.
6. Leading a Participation Economy will be a competitive advantage
Marketing used to be one-way messaging. Now? The most successful brands will focus on creating and nurturing engaged communities.
Consumers don’t just want to hear about sustainability efforts; they want to participate and ask questions. Expect a rise in interactive platforms, exclusive sustainability networks, live Q&As, and purpose-driven online communities. Brands that create shared spaces for discussion, activism, and real-world solutions will stimulate deeper brand loyalty. Think live shopping but for brands bringing better things to the world where their community can engage directly.
7. Emotional Intelligence Campaigns will win over audiences
Consumers are overwhelmed with climate anxiety, economic stress, and political chaos. The brands that thrive will be the ones that recognize this and humanize their message.
Environmental marketing allows brands to connect on an emotional, relatable level while being effective for business growth. This means campaigns that are empathetic, culturally aware, educational and inclusive.
Consumers want brands that understand what they’re going through, and regenerative or environmental marketing can meet them where they are, not where marketers wish they were.
8. Regenerative Partnerships will define who stays relevant
The brands making the biggest impact are leveraging regenerative partnerships, whether co-branded sustainability efforts, industry alliances, or nonprofit collaborations. This is a big piece of environmental marketing or regenerative marketing.
These partnerships won’t just be about CSR and feel-good PR. They’ll be about tangible impact, shared resources, and larger systemic change. Brands will look beyond their walls and align with like-minded businesses, organizations, and influencers to expand their reach and credibility. A very straightforward example of the power of partnerships is that 95% of Microsoft’s commercial revenue comes through its partner ecosystem.
9. Personalization Driven Impact will define who stays relevant
According to a Forrester review, 73% of B2C and 87% of B2B customers expect to be delighted by the brands they purchase from. B2B customers expect even more personalization. Consumers expect brands to speak directly to them with value and proof-driven content, and if they don’t, they tune out fast.
A.R. Environmental has been ahead of the curve with this approach we call environmental marketing, an approach also identified as regenerative marketing. Our founders started this firm by wanting environmental brands and initiatives to educate and have campaign messaging with the feel of hyper-relevancy, localized, and personal. This means companies will want to capture and leverage their data to deliver content that speaks to consumers’ specific values, habits, and regional realities. For sustainable brands and companies with sustainable initiatives, saying “we care about sustainability” isn’t enough. The goal will need to extend to showing them exactly how your product, service, or initiative affects their world.
10. Resilient Business Development will require problem solving, as a major part of their marketing
With shifting policies and gaps in federal sustainability initiatives, companies will need to do more when marketing their environmental and sustainability efforts, and they’ll need to solve environmental challenges actively.
The brands that survive won’t just talk about sustainability; they’ll embed problem-solving into their business development strategies. That means identifying barriers to sustainability adoption, advocating for industry shifts, and creating solutions where policies fall short.
11. Environmental Marketing will rise
Even as government support for clean energy wavers, one thing remains true: the demand for a more sustainable way to do everything isn’t going away.
Consumers, investors, and global markets still expect transparency, ethics, and climate-forward action. Brands focusing on actual impact, measurable results, and transparent communication will lead the next generation of business with the help of effective sustainability marketing.
The next five years will challenge brands to be more innovative, bolder, and strategic in their sustainability marketing. Those who rely on outdated green messaging, repeating the same messaging and news, vague commitments, or surface-level branding will struggle.
But those who deliver real solutions, own their data, build communities, humanize their messaging, and engineer the correct narratives will redefine and reshape their industry for decades to come.
Follow the movement: #AdvancingResilience
Resources
https://www.velaw.com/insights/esg-in-2025-what-to-expect-in-trump-2-0
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
English
Finnish
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Portuguese
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish