Beholden to the planet

Katie is the latest contributor to our spring blog relay - catch up on entries from other Greenpeace staff.

Greenpeace is beholden to no government or corporation. Individual people are our only source of financial support. (Beholden - adjective. Obligated; indebted)

It occurred to me recently that the concept of being ‘beholden', or rather the absence of it, underpins the reason for my job at Greenpeace. But first, why is not being ‘beholden' so important to us?

I suppose, because it would be awkward, to say the least, to accept sponsorship from a company like Unilever, and then have to broach the small matter of their involvement in the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest last year. And imagine if we took just a small hand-out from the British government? It would then be rather embarrassing to have to mention that we really wished they wouldn't expand Heathrow airport and risk catastrophic climate change.