A historic admission, but the language stopped short of specifying precisely when and by how much that transition would occur, leaving many critics to dismiss the outcome as yet more greenwashing.

This week, I spoke with Emilio Tenuta, chief sustainability officer at Ecolab, about the trust gap that exists between consumers and leaders when it comes to action on climate change. 

“We have clear signals that consumers don’t think that companies and governments are being bold enough, and I think the impetus for that is the lack of clear plans,“ Tenuta says, referring to his company’s recent report on water stewardship.

The Watermark Study showed that while most respondents think government and business leaders should be responsible for ensuring water safety, over half think those same actors are not “really leaning in” to resolve water issues or climate change. Therein lies the trust gap, which we’ve seen in other industries, too.

To some degree that trust gap is a matter of perception, Tenuta says, where consumers or other outside observers may “lack complete or accurate information” about what actions leaders are taking. At other times, Tenuta says, businesses are wont to “exaggerate” their environmental endeavors. Resolving both issues relies on transparency.

“In order for businesses to really be viewed as credible, they need to be able to really document a baseline of where they’re starting from and having a clear ambition of where they need to go,” Tenuta says. 

When a company sets an ambitious goal on climate, such as to eliminate emissions by 2050, but provides no information on how they’ll get there or even on how they’ll measure their results, it’s a clear sign of greenwashing. To be trusted actors, leaders need to be specific and accountable. Tenuta says, “It’s not enough to just do the work; people want to also know that it’s been third-party reviewed.”

Resolving that trust gap is ultimately good for business as, according to Ecolab’s report, consumers are increasingly voting with their wallets, favoring brands that they feel are aligned with environmental needs. However, convincing investors that taking an environmental stand is the right thing to do requires a little more data and a greater focus on communicating business outcomes rather than environmental ones.

Tenuta says fixing that trust gap relies on proving that adopting an environmental stance satisfies three dimensions: It delivers on business objectives, it improves operational efficiency, and, lastly, it delivers a measurable environmental impact. It isn’t enough to show something is good for the planet, it also has to be good for business.

In terms of COP, proving that transitioning to green energy will be good for business has always been the biggest sticking point holding back action from fossil fuel companies—which, in turn, has prevented broad action on climate from other industries. It had better not take 29 more meetings before those trust gaps are closed.

In other news, Trust Factor will be off for the holidays, returning Jan. 7. If you have any thoughts or ideas on what other aspects of trust you’d like us to dive into next year, send me an email.

Eamon Barrett
eamon.barrett@fortune.com

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Flying is miserable now
Southwest Airlines was fined a record $140 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation over its operational meltdown in 2022, when millions of travelers were left stranded after the airline canceled more than 16,900 flights during the winter holidays. The fine is about 30 times as large as any other levied against an airline in the U.S., but that meltdown represents just the pinnacle of decades of mismanagement in airlines. 

A good ending
Adobe walked away from its $20 billion acquisition of startup Figma after clashing with EU and U.K. antitrust regulators, which refused to approve the merger. The software giant will have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee for exiting the deal, but, Fortune’s David Meyer writes, the collapse of the deal might actually be a good thing for everyone involved.

Apple put on watch
Apple is scrambling for ways to save its $17 billion smartwatch business, after a court ruled the company’s wearables had infringed a patent held by rival Masimo and ordered Apple to halt sales. The order is under review until Dec. 25, but Apple has already removed the offending products from its online store. The company is working on a software change that might skirt the patent infringement.

TRUST EXERCISE

“To build a local-at-speed, fractal-network company, [business leaders] must build a very different culture, one that challenges deeply entrenched power structures underpinning the traditional hierarchical culture of which they have been primary beneficiaries.”

File under deglobalization. Arindam Bhattacharya and Hans-Paul Bürkner, two top leaders at Boston Consulting Group, say that multinationals need a radical redesign of corporate culture, away from hierarchy and toward regional autonomy, where the onus is put on quickly serving needs at “the edge” of the customer-business interface. But doing so means devolving, not delegating powers, and many leaders are reluctant to let go of the reins.