Britain's green leaders jump corporate fence

Big business is recruiting its former foes, reports CAHAL MILMO.

LONDON - Clad in woolly jumpers and boiler suits, certain eco-generals could once cause corporate Britain to have a cold sweat at the mere mention of clean air or GM crops.

Now, rather than blockading nuclear power plants or ripping up planted fields, they are more likely to be found in an air-conditioned office wearing a smart suit and wielding nothing more intimidating than a flip chart.

They are the environmentalists who have decided to work for the blue-chip giants they once sought to humble.

Armed with large salaries and boardroom access, they want to seek change from within - and they are growing in number.

In the past seven years, at least six directors of environmental groups have joined their one-time opponents in big business.

Corporate headhunters say they are actively seeking prominent environmentalists to join global companies desperate to be seen to be "green aware".

Issues from global warming to low-sulphur petrol are now considered to be matters of mainstream policy.

Last year, the British Government told big companies to produce an annual environmental performance report.

The result is an unprecedented demand among oil giants and energy companies for expertise in green issues, which they can find in the members of groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.

This has led to bitterness and rancour within the green movement.

Lord Peter Melchett, the former director of Greenpeace UK, was vilified by former allies last week for joining Burson-Marsteller, the world's leading corporate public relations firefighter.

The former Labour minister insisted his green principles would not be compromised by his new advisory role for Burson-Marsteller's corporate social responsibility unit.

But the move was seen as a coup for the firm, the first port of call for many companies and Governments accused of human rights abuses and environmental damage over the past 25 years.

Among its clients have been the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu; Union Carbide, the United States company involved in the Bhopal disaster in India in 1984; Exxon, whose tanker was involved in a disastrous oil spill in Alaska; Babcock and Wilcox, whose reactor failed at Three Mile Island; and Monsanto, the company at the heart of Melchett's campaign against genetically modified crops.

His hardline critics saw little merit in the argument that co-operation could be as fruitful as confrontation, accusing Melchett and other activists-turned-consultants of selling out.

As Greenwatch put it: "Hiring activists is a crude but effective way to derail potentially meddlesome opponents.

"Melchett and others like him are being led up the genetically modified garden path."

Other campaigning bodies are not so sure. Before last week's protests, Greenpeace UK had agreed with Melchett that there was no conflict of interest.

An internal document said it was valid for him to take his "go organic, do the right thing" message direct to the boardroom.

Other environmentalists who have chosen to walk the corridors of power include Tom Burke, a former director of Friends of the Earth, who was a special adviser to three Conservative environment ministers.

Burke now works for Rio Tinto, the global mining company excluded from the FTSE4Good index of ethical investments.

Another is Des Wilson, the former head of communications for the airports group BAA. He once headed the campaign to remove lead from petrol.

Gavin Grant, who led a Bodyshop campaign against Shell and the Nigerian Government to expose the abuse of the Ogoni people, also joined Burson-Marsteller, which has counted the Nigerian Government among its customers.

The attractions of recruiting such luminaries are seemingly manifold,

Not only are they seasoned lobbyists and researchers with considerable marketing expertise but they also have "moral authority".

Recruitment consultants say it is a growth market as companies seek expertise not only on how to meet their ethical and environmental objectives but also on winning over consumers, who increasingly demand green credentials before parting with their money.

One London headhunter, whose clients include several chemicals and oil conglomerates, said: "I have a dozen customers, mostly in heavy industry, who want people with a green background.

"There is an experience gap and the environment movement offers a ready pool of expertise, if you can persuade people of the merits of jumping ship to the private sector.

"It is a delicate balancing act; people have to maintain their integrity.

"But once you have a voice like that on board, they give an invaluable moral authority to what a company says."

Observers of the trend say that, from a corporate point of view, a clean bill of environmental health is a matter of economic necessity, forming the so-called triple bottom line of profit, environment and social responsibility.

Peter James, professor of environmental management at the University of Bradford, said: "The big companies simply can no longer afford to get it wrong on the environment.

"A big ecological disaster could now wipe a company out. There is an elite of companies who are making considerable efforts to change their stance and they are seeking the best advice."

Advocates of co-operation say the old dynamic of vociferous campaigners harassing intransigent corporate polluters is no longer valid.

Burke said: "The notion of either working from inside a corporation or outside as a campaigner is a false one.

"The environmental issues we are dealing with are hugely complicated and require the participation of government, campaigners and companies. No single individual or group is going to solve them."



But on the campaigning side of the fence, there is unease that the reputations of people such as Melchett may be hijacked.

Ian Willmore, communications director of Friends of the Earth, said: "There is always the question of whether a company is serious about change or whether it is engaged in trying to disarm critics.

"Melchett is a man of integrity, but he will now have to prove that almost constantly. A company like Burson-Marsteller does not enjoy a good reputation in the environmental movement."

Many within the ecological sector admit that previous villains such as the oil giant Shell have made progress. So have companies such as BP and the DIY firm B&Q, which has pledged to stock timber only from sustainable sources.

With more and more companies looking to advertise their caring and sharing credentials by seeking the approval of avowed activists, some suggest that corporate Britain could be using the oldest trick in the book - divide and conquer.

But Jonathon Porritt, another former head of Friends of the Earth who now chairs the Government's Sustainable Development Commission, says the trend presents an opportunity rather than a risk to the green movement.

He said: "We cannot say that we are not going to talk to these companies because we are environmental campaigners.

"But the world is not yet so advanced that we can rely entirely on working directly with business. If we did that, we'd be stuffed.

"There is still very much a place for confrontational campaigning but it is perfectly possible to keep one's radicality within industry.

"The two methods can co-exist without schism."

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Feature: Conservation & Environment