BUSINESS UNDER
PRESSURE IN DAVOS
This year's World Economic Forum meeting
confirmed that plans for a comprehensive
new round of free trade talks are alive and
well. But following the collapse of trade
talks in Seattle, governments have a big
problem on their hands. How to placate
industry pressure for further trade
liberalization whilst dealing with the ever
more effective critics of the free trade
project? Holding meetings of the most
powerful people in the world behind rings
of steel barricades and armed riot police
seems to be their answer for now. But it
can't work forever.
A huge billboard in downtown Davos gave
some insight into corporate strategies to
pursue their neoliberal goals. Screaming
"Think Globally, Eat Locally", this
advertisement was placed not by Friends of
the Earth campaigners, but by McDonalds.
This most recent offering of spin from one
of the world's most famous brands says a
lot about corporate strategy: If in doubt,
adopt the words of your detractors. The
business strategy remains the same, but the
images and impressions are carefully chosen
to imply otherwise. And its not only
McDonalds that faces a huge PR
challenge.
WEF participants in Davos were asked in
an electronic poll what was the most
pressing issue facing business in the
future. Climate change was their answer. So
surprising was this result that the
conference organizers re-ran the poll; the
second time around, climate change got an
even bigger vote. Significantly, the most
popular prediction after climate change was
that financial stability would be an issue
in the future.
What is apparently far less clear to the
business leaders is the extent to which
these two challenges are linked. As
multi-billion dollar insurance payouts from
storms, floods, heat waves and deep freezes
cause economic chaos, the implications for
the financial markets are profound. But the
fact that the workshop on climate change
was one of the most poorly attended
sessions in Davos this year underlines how
industry is not serious about tackling the
awesome challenges posed by global
warming.
One major problem in this respect is the
fact that sustainable development and
economic policy are debated in different
fora and by different people. The crucial
integration of ideas, policy and law is
still not taking place. And whilst Davos
championed proposals to beef up free trade
rules, no participants could be heard
calling for tougher targets in the climate
change convention or for new incentives to
accelerate the marketing of clean
technologies like solar power and fuel
cells.
But this year's Davos meeting did at
least show that the message is getting
through. Mr. Blair and Mr. Clinton urged
the business leaders to listen to their
critics. That is welcome. But will they
listen when new environmental bills come
before parliament or congress? Or will they
continue with their old ways of protecting
profits at almost any ecological or
cultural cost?
Images beamed round the world of the
giant McDonalds advertisement in flames,
and a rainbow coalition of greens, farmers,
union representatives and others marching
to demand reforms to the global economy
will not go unnoticed by the world's
people. But what are the power elite going
to do about it? Change the way business
relates to people and nature, or hire a new
advertising agency?
Tony Juniper, FoE
EWNI
