Partnering with the private sector: Lessons on putting impact before good press

CANBERRA — For the private sector, being green or socially conscious is an increasingly important part of building a contemporary brand. However, for environmental NGOs that engage with the private sector, such partnerships can create controversy and risks. “Our communications focus, particularly with this sector, is primarily on the results of such engagements.” --— Hank Cauley, Center for Leadership in Business senior vice president, Conservation International In a new campaign released by BP last year — its largest since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — promoting its green credentials was a focus. Partnering with NGOs as part of community-based initiatives and projects through the BP Foundation has also been important in shifting the conversation on their global impact. Other fossil fuel companies including Shell, mining companies such as BHP, and brands with a large global footprint including Starbucks and Apple are all promoting social and environmental responsibility in their marketing. With investigations showing that fossil fuel industries have tried to change the conversation on climate change, it is easy to think that many private sector partners may be considering climate or social good projects as a marketing exercise for good press. Devex spoke to Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and World Wide Fund for Nature to discuss the approaches they are taking to engaging the private sector and ways they are mitigating the risks of partnerships being an exercise in branding and so-called green washing. Conservation International Conservation International has more than three decades of experience in engaging with the private sector to support its work in environmental protection and has built a model that attracts big companies. Among its many partnerships, CI is working with The Walt Disney Co. to help the organization reduce its carbon emissions, build environmental strategy, and invest in protecting forests. With United Airlines, it is helping customers offset carbon emissions from air travel. And with BHP, it is investing in conservation projects to protect plant and animal biodiversity in Australia, Chile, Kenya, and Peru. Hank Cauley, senior vice president for the Center for Leadership in Business with CI, told Devex these partnerships are important for the scale of solutions required. “The science tells us we have less than 10 years to halt climate change and slow biodiversity loss,” he said. “Given this urgency, collaboration with the private sector is essential to avert climate catastrophe and ensure a livable planet for people. Without business on board, we will not succeed.” But partnerships are not engaged in lightly. “We seek to make business a positive force for nature and people, and we will not work with companies who don’t share this commitment,” Cauley said. CI, he said, has strict policies that guide its work with the private sector. Every potential company is subject to review by a due-diligence process through which it considers the company’s track record, its sustainability commitments and whether it has lived up to them, and the degree to which senior management is committed to improvement moving forward. Throughout the partnership, Cauley said CI “advocate[s] for continuous improvement” in practices across the business of its partners, including their performance on climate change, biodiversity, water, and community engagement, as well as transparency and disclosure. “Whether or not improvements are made will factor into our decision on working with a particular company,” Cauley said. “Conservation International has and will turn down opportunities, or end corporate engagements, that do not meet our expectations.” But private companies using partnerships for good press is a concern — and Cauley said CI’s strategy is a lesson for NGOs. “Our communications focus, particularly with this sector, is primarily on the results of such engagements,” he said. “In this way, we believe we can provide models to be replicated by others. That’s something we establish upfront.” The Nature Conservancy Nearing its 70th anniversary, The Nature Conservancy engages with the private sector using a model that focuses on applying science, reach, and expertise in conservation planning to assist businesses in understanding the value of nature and making better decisions to help protect it. “Businesses around the globe can, and do, have significant impacts on our climate and on the lands and waters that people and nature rely upon for survival,” a TNC spokesperson said. TNC, the spokesperson said, believes the private sector can take a leadership role in conservation through sustainable business practices, investing directly in nature and conservations projects, leveraging its reach to raise awareness for conservation, and engaging and advocating in sustainable policies related to nature and communities. Among its partners are the agricultural pesticide and seed company Dow AgroSciences, Cargill, and Microsoft. And the process involved in selecting partners, the spokesperson said, is thorough. “When a company approaches TNC about working together, we undertake a rigorous process that includes ensuring the relationship aligns with our mission and has clear conservation benefits with lasting, measurable outcomes,” the spokesperson said. Ensuring there is a benefit to conservation is the priority measurement that TNC assesses in engaging partners, with an expectation that the benefit to the partner will not outweigh the benefit to TNC and the conservation project. Ongoing assessments of partners could see agreements terminated if they are not committing to conservation. This process, the spokesperson said, has been important in identifying partnerships that are more about brand building. But despite this approach, the spokesperson emphasised that relationships with corporations are “in no way an implied or real endorsement” of their business. Even with the challenges and risks, TNC said the need requires these partnerships. “The science is clear: We only have a finite amount of time to make real, transformative change to address the climate crisis,” the spokesperson said. “And it’s going to take companies, NGOs, governments, and others coming together to implement real solutions. By working with companies, we can unlock financial, human, and natural capital to conserve lands and waters and ensure thriving communities.” World Wide Fund for Nature The geographic focus of the World Wide Fund for Nature creates challenges in delivering projects supporting the protection and conservation of plants and animals. And this is a key reason for engaging private sector partners in its work. “Our work on the front line of conservation in more than 100 countries has shown us that sustainability needs to be a joint priority and protecting the world's valuable natural resources requires participation and action from diverse actors and entities,” a WWF spokesperson said. “This includes companies who, given the scale and scope of their impact and activities, can be key drivers for change.” Among their private sector partners are Coca-Cola, paper manufacturer Domtar, and McDonald’s. Having “strict” guidelines and practices for engaging partners, including due diligence and transparency requirements as well as an expectation for measurable conservation outcomes from businesses, was identified by WWF as being critical in identifying potential partners that may not have shared respect for the organization's mission. “WWF will only enter into a partnership with an individual company if the engagement fits strategically with WWF’s key objectives and there is a commitment that yields real conservation benefits,” the spokesperson said. But its strict guidelines also mean a particular sector will be excluded from partnerships. “WWF does not work directly with fossil fuel companies," the spokesperson said. “Our focus is to work with companies that are committed to transform their way of working and demonstrate this through their actions. We believe that by doing so, we will bring positive change for the benefit of people and the planet.”