As the federal government pulls back funding for sustainability, most large American companies are continuing to invest in climate and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) work. In some cases, they’re investing more than they did in the past. But nearly a third say they’re now talking about it less. In a survey of 400 executives at U.S. companies with $1 billion-plus in revenue, conducted by the sustainability ratings platform EcoVadis, 87% said they’ve maintained or increased investment in sustainability this year. At the same time, 31% said they’re reducing ESG communication—in other words, “greenhushing,” or not taking credit for their progress on environmental or social issues. Some 8% of the surveyed executives said they’ve stopped talking about sustainability completely. That tracks with what sustainability leaders are saying in private, says Richard Eyram, chief customer officer at EcoVadis. “Some organizations that have had sustainability ingrained in their ethos for decades aren’t holding back [on the work], but they do say that they likely won’t publish a sustainability report this year,” he says. “Or they’ve taken things off of their website because they just don’t want to be in the line of fire, so to speak, with anything politicizing sustainability.” That ranges from talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to environmental programs. Some large companies are also starting to talk about sustainability differently internally. “I do know of one client who they actually changed their job titles in their department, from climate to ‘energy utilization’ or ‘energy efficiency’ or something like that,” Eyram says. “This is a multibillion-dollar U.S. organization,” he adds. “What we’re seeing holistically is less discussion of climate and more on supply chain, risk resiliency, brand risk. The investment’s continuing. The same content is underpinning it, but it’s absolutely that the narrative has changed slightly.” Anecdotally, Eyram says, some smaller companies are pulling back from sustainability goals because they now face less regulatory pressure. But for most of the largest corporations, there’s still a commitment to the work, whether or not they’re willing to talk about it. The majority of executives surveyed said they saw supply chain sustainability as a competitive advantage. And sustainability teams at large companies still care about climate progress. As Eyram attests, “That motivation hasn’t changed one iota.”