The Green Policeman

The worlds multinationals become increasingly nervous when they know Greenpeace is on their case and this nervousness stretches from the boardroom to the local shops and garages.  We noticed that earlier this year when the group campaigned outside the BP garage in Daybrook and we have noticed it in the past with campaigns where we were outside supermarkets campaigning for marine reserves or a stop to beam trawling.  This interesting article shows just how much we are still making waves but at the boardroom level.  Greenpeace has always spoken truth to power.  As an NGO we may not always be able to make the changes we want to see happening but often we know who can make those changes.  That is one of the reasons we are training people up to be political lobbyists.  The issues we confront today, like climate change and the state of the oceans are large systemic issues requiring large systemic responses and that means more and more we have to engage directly with governments and large multinational corporations.  We need to get a handle on climate change within the next 5 years and within that time we need to see CO2 levels start to reduce significantly.  Some of the larger corporations, especially the energy corporations, have had a lot of power in their hands as a result of globalisation so we need to talk to them as agents of change.  That does not mean we will not do any more direct actions - that is one of Greenpeaces core values after all - bearing witness to injustice and environmental problems - but actions more and more are going hand in hand with the more subtle forms of communication.  Large corporations are particularly susceptible to brand damage campaigns like the recent Kit Kat campaign that local activists took part in.  Loss of face is a prime motivator in getting a corporation to move in the direction we want them to go in.  So the hard work is just beginning, but we can make a difference, whether its on the street on in the boardroom or in a politicians surgery where we will continue to speak truth to power.