A Big Question for the Big Society

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Giles Robertson, chairman of The Marketing Society’s Not For Profit group, asks whether environmental change is driven by charities or companies?

This question has been on my mind with the ‘Big Society’, using local leaders – whoever they are. Six years ago, Margaret Beckett, the then Secretary for the Environment, in her quest to accelerate emissions cuts from corporates, said: “We are at the foothills of dealing with the challenge of climate change and need business to take the lead.”

Businesses need frameworks and incentives to innovate. If they can make a difference that is distinctive, competitive and generates income then they’re on the right track. We’ve seen M&S Plan A, Walmart’s commitment to sustainable fish, The Co-Op’s ethical services and Cadbury’s commitment to fairtrade cocoa from Ghana.  These are not having a large impact.

Environmental charities only have one agenda and that is to achieve change. They have passionate supporters – about 6.5 million. Charities are not afraid to campaign against environmental injustices like dangerous chemicals, drive real change with initiatives like the Marine Stewardship Council, or force new legislation like the Marine Bill and the Wildlife Trade Act.

But, perhaps more importantly, 7% of England (or 22,556,352 acres) is made up of charity-run land, managed by the National Trust, RSPB, Wildfowl and Wetlands and the Church of England. Collectively these spaces have inspired and changed many people’s views.  You won’t hear about a Fizzy Drink Company stopping one of its Fizzy Drinks to enable it to fund a local beach clean up or to support a local wood. That’s because most company environmental policies are internally focused, short-term and about sorting out their own mess, rather than helping others.

Therefore the real powerhouse of environmental change has come from environmental charities, focused on long-term change, rather than the corporate big boys.

Giles Robertson is the founder of Green Banana Marketing Ltd.

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Posted: February 2nd, 2011 | Author: stuart.treasure | Filed under: Green, leadership | Tags: , | Leave a Comment »

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