Do you report publicly on your ecological, social, and financial impact, including negative effects and shortcomings of your model?

Business as Usual distorts the truth and takes no responsibility

Shell

Shell illustrates how “Business as Usual” reporting can hide rather than clarify real impact. While the company reports extensively on financial performance, its communication around social and ecological consequences is lacking full accountability, especially when negative impacts are significant and long-lasting.

A recent example is the situation in the Dutch province Groningen, where decades of gas extraction generated enormous profits, reportedly around €32 billion, while contributing to earthquakes and structural damage to homes and communities. Rather than fully owning these consequences, Shell has taken a defensive stance, including legal action against the Dutch state through international arbitration mechanisms.

Financial success is clearly reported and emphasized, while responsibility for harm is contested or shifted. In doing so, the true cost of the business model is not fully acknowledged, and the burden is being transferred to governments and citizens instead of being addressed by the company itself. In other words, Shell is privatizing the benefits, while socializing the costs. 

Future Entrepreneurs share openly and honestly what is going well and what is not (yet) going well

Patagonia

Patagonia takes a different approach, where transparency includes not only successes but also shortcomings. The company is widely seen as a leader in sustainability, yet it openly acknowledges the limits of its own impact.

In its reporting, Patagonia shares that “nothing we do is sustainable.” This is a deliberate stance: sustainability is treated as a continuous process rather than a fixed achievement. By sharing where it falls short, the company invites scrutiny and continuous improvement instead of presenting a polished, perfect image.

This level of honesty builds credibility and aligns stakeholders around reality rather than perception. Customers, employees, and partners are given a clearer picture of both progress and remaining challenges. Transparency here is not a marketing tool but a mechanism for accountability and better decision-making over time.

What you can do

• Report on negative as well as positive impacts
  Don’t limit reporting to what is going well. Actively include where your business creates harm or falls short, and explain what you are doing to address it. This builds trust and drives real improvement.
• Treat sustainability as an ongoing process, not a claim
  Avoid framing your business as “fully sustainable.” Instead, communicate progress, trade-offs, and uncertainties. This keeps your organization focused on learning and evolving rather than defending a static label.
• Connect transparency to accountability
  Make sure reporting leads to action. Set measurable goals, track progress publicly, and hold yourself accountable over time so that transparency becomes a driver of change, not just communication.