Time for a bit of carrot?

November 1991. I’m outside a B&Q DIY store in North London distributing leaflets to customers. With dramatic pictures of destroyed rainforests, our advice was for people not to buy tropical wood from the company.

The idea was to use consumer power to convince B&Q to be more careful about where it bought its forest products. Our reasoning was that if we got them to specify more sustainable sources for the wood they sold, then a contribution could be made towards saving the tropical rainforests.

Earlier that week I had been with Friends of the Earth colleagues when we inflated a giant chainsaw-shaped balloon attached to a transit van in the car park of a Wickes store in Islington. We drove this unusual contraption around the huge retail shed, at one point putting the 20-feet-long rubber blade through the front door. The intention of this elaborate stunt was to get some TV coverage for our new ‘Destroy it Yourself’ campaign. It worked.

While there is a proud track record in wielding the stick, there are fewer examples of effectively dangling the carrot.

Awareness spread as to the perils of buying rainforest wood in DIY stores. The media called the companies to ask what their policy was. The fact that they didn’t have one only added to the pressure. Questions were asked in Parliament. The reputational damage being done was considerable, and the people running the DIY chains wanted a solution.

For three decades, environmental campaigners have successfully used tactics like these to target company after company, chivvying them along with pressure in search of action to do better for the planet. Campaigns raising the profile of environmental questions within different companies have over time been quite successful, with businesses in a wide range of sectors responding with new policies, targets, strategies and products.

Marks & Spencer launched its impressive Plan A, which sets out dozens of targets relating to a range of environmental challenges. Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan has been driven by the company’s global chief executive, and has set a new standard for consumer goods companies. Skanska is leading the construction industry with its ambition to do deep green business, again setting new standards. The facilities management company Interserve has adopted an industry-leading plan called SustainAbilities. Asia Pulp and Paper is implementing a Forest Conservation Policy to end the loss of natural forest linked to its business.

These and other plans have emerged from a number of strategic priorities. One is to protect a company’s reputation. Another is based on the realisation that nature is threatened and that this poses a strategic business risk. Others have seen new laws in the offing and decided that there are advantages to adopting new practices before they come into force. Some see value for recruiting new talent or retaining or winning customers.

So it is that the world of corporate environmentalism has been transformed. No longer fluffy PR, sustainability targets and strategies are now mainstream, real and often led from the top of very large international companies.

These days I work more on the inside with companies, and thereby see more of the dynamics in play when a strategy to achieve environmental goals is being considered. Stick is still effective, but in responding to it cost is a big issue. If the change in strategy or product design needed to deliver better environmental outcomes costs tens of millions of pounds, or more, then there will obviously be reluctance, scepticism and push back.