
Lawrence Hallett
With a strategic focus on the consumer manufacturing sector in the EMEA region, Lawrence plays a vital role in Acre’s mission to connect purpose-driven professionals with forward-thinking organisations. His extensive experience in sustainability recruitment has given him a deep understanding of challenges in the consumer goods landscape, including ethical sourcing and circular economy strategies.
Lawrence combines a robust network with keen market insight, connecting businesses with the talent necessary to thrive in a rapidly evolving sector. Known for his thoughtful engagement and commitment to impactful placements, he builds diverse teams aligned with clients’ sustainability goals, fostering long-term value and resilience while supporting Acre’s vision of creating systemic change through the power of people.
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Navigating the evolving language of sustainability: Insights from Acre’s 2025 regional sessions
As the sustainability and impact landscape continues to evolve, so too does the language we use to describe it. This spring, Acre hosted a series of internal workshops across North America, EMEA, and APAC to examine how terminology and messaging are changing in different markets.
Our discussions were based on observation, with opinions often “agreeably disagreeing” as we compared and mulled over what we hear from our network. Fundamentally, these regional sessions were more than just a review of trending phrases, they highlighted the deep connection between language, perception, and purpose, giving us space to consider how organisations are communicating and positioning sustainability strategy and ambition in 2025.
Here are our key takeaways.
Language is political and context is everything
In the US, terms like “ESG” have become politically loaded, sparking hesitation in public and private spheres. As a result, we’re seeing a pivot toward less politicised language such as “social impact,” “responsible business,” and “resilience.”
In contrast, ESG remains more prevalent across Europe and APAC, where the term still carries weight (although arguably not always clarity). This underscores the need for an understanding of regional nuances and the agility to tailor communication strategies to reflect different cultural, commercial and political realities.
From ESG to impact
Originally grounded in financial risk management, ESG has grown into a catch-all term for corporate sustainability, creating some confusion. Increasingly, we are seeing some organisations separating sustainability messaging from ESG, especially when engaging non-financial stakeholders.
Terms like “purpose-led,” “impact,” “resilience,” and “value creation” are emerging as preferences to articulate broader business goals. This reflects the commercialisation of sustainability and highlights the importance of context-specific language that speaks to both purpose and performance.
Changing job titles reflects a broader agenda
Job titles are also seeing a parallel change, there’s a noticeable pivot toward roles focused on human rights and social impact, particularly in North America, driven by policy developments like UFLPA and CATSCA. This change is creating space for social and governance work that has historically taken a backseat to climate concerns.
Across Europe, although traditional job titles referencing CSR and ESG remain prevalent, we are seeing an increase in job titles containing “transformation” or “resilience”, with organisations using these job titles to signal strategic evolution in these roles to reflect a broader commercial and operational remit.
The role of corporate affairs
The sessions also spotlighted the influence of corporate affairs functions, especially in shaping external narratives and policy.
With companies becoming more cautious in their public-facing communications, corporate affairs functions are being called upon to balance ambition with credibility, and sustainability with stakeholder management.
Global alignment, local relevance
One consistent theme? Language must be both globally aligned and locally relevant. While “decarbonisation” and “reporting” dominate UK dialogue, US conversations lean into “values-based leadership” and “social justice.” Meanwhile, APAC markets prefer more pragmatic language, terms like “environment” carry more resonance than “sustainability.”
Ensuring our internal capability
Talking about the language of sustainability can be challenging. There is a strong appetite within the Acre team for tools and training to help lead these conversations with confidence.
As a result, we’re developing a language guide, rolling out training modules, and piloting scenario-based discussion groups, ensuring that every Acre team member is equipped to guide clients through evolving terminology with authority and empathy.
Words to watch
Here are some of the terms gaining traction, and those we’re watching closely:
· Gaining Momentum: purpose-led, resilience, responsible business, impact, transformation, business value, risk
· Still Relevant (but Politically Sensitive): ESG, CSR, net zero
· Regionally Favoured: social impact (US), ESG transformation (France), decarbonisation (UK), environment (APAC/industrial sectors)
Final thoughts and how we can help
Language is no longer just a tool for communication. It’s a strategic asset, a reputational risk, and a catalyst for action. These regional workshops reaffirmed our responsibility to stay fluent in the evolving language of sustainability so we can better serve our clients, our candidates, and our purpose.
Here’s how we’re supporting clients:
· Advisory on language use: We offer guidance on how to position sustainability and impact initiatives using language that resonates with key stakeholders
· Role and job title consultation: We help clients shape and refine role titles and job descriptions to align with market trends and talent expectations, ensuring clarity, appeal, and relevance
· Insights from real-time search data: Leveraging tools like Google Trends and SEO analysis, we help clients align their messaging with what audiences are actively searching for, bridging the gap between technical accuracy and audience engagement
From developing a shared language guide to refining our digital strategy, Acre is taking proactive steps to ensure our messaging remains clear, credible, and impactful, no matter where in the world we’re working.
Want to learn more about how we’re navigating sustainability trends across regions? Get in touch with the Acre team.
Open Positions from Lawrence's Team
Membership Manager
Public & Non Profit
Redditch, Worcestershire, England
Hybrid
Acre is pleased to be partnering with Alupro (Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation) in hiring a Membership Manager.
Alupro is an industry-funded, non-profit organisation with over 30 years of experience representing the UK's aluminium packaging industry. They partner with local authorities, the waste management industry and the metal packaging sector to develop the UK collection infrastructure in a bid to drive circularity.
They are seeking a Membership Manager to manage current members and create new partnerships with organisations using aluminium in their products.
In this role, you will
- Identify, research, and actively pursue potential Alupro members and sponsors across various sectors within the aluminium packaging value chain.
- Develop and implement a structured outreach strategy targeting both high-value, low-volume prospects (e.g., large beverage brands, beauty and cosmetics companies) and high-volume, low-value prospects (e.g., aluminium scrap recyclers and exporters).
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, leveraging networking opportunities at industry events and conferences to secure new memberships and sponsorships.
- Streamline and modernise the membership sign-up process to ensure ease of access and efficiency for prospective members.
- Provide ongoing support to current members, ensuring high levels of engagement, retention, and satisfaction. This will include regular meetings with each member and coordinating training for management or sales staff.
Alupro is looking for a self-motivated individual with the ability to identify and pursue potential members and sponsors independently.
As the ideal candidate, you will have
- A proven track record of securing new members, clients, or sponsors, preferably within a not-for-profit or industry association environment.
- Demonstrated ability to drive revenue growth through membership engagement, business development, or fundraising efforts.
- Strong networking and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior decision-makers.
- Excellent organisational and project management skills, with experience leading initiatives such as digital platform development or membership engagement projects.
This role is hybrid with monthly travel to our head office in Redditch and occasional travel for meetings and conferences.
If you're looking for an exciting opportunity to play a key role in promoting circularity across the metal packaging value chain and have a successful track record in similar organisations, please apply directly or reach out to Lawrence Hallett at lawrence.hallett@acre.com for more information.

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