 Nov. 17, 2008 - A new Marc Gunther column for Fortune magazine takes a hard look at the potentially too-cozy relationships between large companies and the environmental groups they help fund.
A slew of internationals have teamed up with NGOs on sustainability projects in recent years, from Coca-Cola (World Wildlife Fund) to Clorox (the Sierra Club). Yet while it makes sense for these companies to pay for NGOs' expertise, some question whether the arrangements could keep green groups from pushing their corporate partners to do better.
Consumers have been quick to cry foul. The Sierra Club raised hackles for lending its logo to Clorox's GreenWorks line of environmentally preferable cleaners. Conservation International, which juggles lucrative partnerships with major players including Wal-Mart, Marriott, and Starbucks, took heat for its public support of another corporate partner, bottled-water company Fiji Water.
Some NGOs, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund, won't take money from the companies they advise. Those that do contend that the money changing hands doesn't affect their bottom line - engaging business on sustainability issues.
"When Fiji Water came along and said they had a business interest in protecting their watershed, that was an opportunity for us," explains Glenn Prickett, a senior vice president at Conservation International. "That nation is going to find something to ship out of Fiji. It could be logs or an industrial product. We'd much rather see it be a clean product that is produced with renewable energy." (Read more on Fiji's sustainability efforts here.)
"Judge us on what we and the companies together are able to do for the environment," Prickett says. |
