¿Las empresas en Colombia SILENCIAN SUS compromisos climáticos?

This report by Transforma analyzes 'greenhushing'—the practice of minimizing or silencing climate achievements to avoid scrutiny—within the Colombian financial sector. Based on interviews with five issuers and two investors, the document identifies key drivers of this behavior, including fear of scrutiny over imperfect data, the desire to protect competitive advantages, and high market expectations for quantitative metrics. It concludes that while greenhushing is less prevalent in Colombia than globally due to a lack of climate litigation and progressive regulation, technical gaps and a preference for perfection over transparency still hinder climate disclosure.

• Greenhushing is defined as the practice where companies choose to minimize or silence their climate strategies and achievements to avoid public scrutiny or accusations of greenwashing, which reduces transparency and trust in climate commitments.
• In Colombia, companies are hesitant to disclose climate management results that are not perfectly corroborated, fearing that partial results may be misinterpreted or lead to market penalties if subsequent updates show a decline in performance metrics.
• Companies view the 'know-how' of climate analysis and internal methodologies for valuing risks and scenarios as a strategic competitive advantage, leading them to limit the disclosure of the processes used to reach their results.
• There is a disconnect between market expectations and corporate reality; investors primarily seek quantitative goals and emission reduction metrics, often overlooking the strategic management of climate risks and the iterative nature of data improvement.
• The Colombian financial sector shows a level of maturity in climate disclosure that stands out in Latin America, largely driven by the Superintendencia Financiera's Circular Externa 031 of 2021, which required type A issuers to disclose climate information.
• Lack of standardization in reporting creates uncertainty and additional costs for companies, while a perceived shift in the regulator's role from collaborative to punitive could further discourage transparency.
• Greenhushing is reported to have a lower impact in Colombia compared to global trends because the country has not yet recorded cases of climate litigation against financial entities and possesses a less rooted culture of activism.
• Investors may also engage in a form of silence by keeping their own climate risk studies internal to avoid market disruptions or the stigmatization of specific sectors.

APA

Dueñas, C., Rojas, M. P. R., & Ospina, A. C. M. (2025). ¿Las empresas en Colombia SILENCIAN SUS compromisos climáticos? Transforma. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/250127-Greenhushing.pdf

Chicago

Dueñas, Carolina, María Paula Rubio Rojas, and Ana Carolina Méndez Ospina. ¿Las empresas en Colombia SILENCIAN SUS compromisos climáticos? Transforma, 2025. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/250127-Greenhushing.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dueñas |first1=Carolina |last2=Rojas |first2=María Paula Rubio |last3=Ospina |first3=Ana Carolina Méndez |title=¿Las empresas en Colombia SILENCIAN SUS compromisos climáticos? |publisher=Transforma |date=2025 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/250127-Greenhushing.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dueas2025las, author = {Dueñas, Carolina and Rojas, María Paula Rubio and Ospina, Ana Carolina Méndez}, title = {{¿Las empresas en Colombia SILENCIAN SUS compromisos climáticos?}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2025}, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/250127-Greenhushing.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }