‘Greenhushing’ Emerges as Anti-ESG Pressures Mount for Companies

The Trump administration’s attacks on companies pursuing environmental, social, and governance goals are contributing to a rise in “greenhushing”—where businesses are accused of downplaying their ESG initiatives.

A spate of “greenwashing” cases, targeting companies for overstating their sustainability or corporate governance efforts, have now opened the door to new litigation that instead highlights misleading disclosures for failing to clearly convey how ESG impacts the bottom line or contributes to corporate strategy writ large.

“Companies are caught in an ESG paradox—sued for saying too much, sued for saying too little, and sometimes both at once,” said Kushal Bhimjiani, group general counsel ...