Wild Words

What’s the price of a cow in Nepal got to do with climate change? A lot, says David Nussbaum. The new chief executive of WWF-UK has carbon credits, water, and China on his mind.

Peter Denton: You were formerly chief executive of global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International (TI). Going from tackling corruption to tackling the environment is quite a step – is there any crossover?

David Nussbaum: There is certainly someoverlap – illegal logging, for example, is a form of corruption and a form of environmental vandalism. Both corruption and the environment are huge global issues affecting the future of the planet and the lives of everybody to some extent.

PD: Your experience at TI, and Oxfam andTraidcraft before that, must have influenced your thinking on international trade and its effects on the environment…

DN: Of course trade brings economic benefits– greater efficiency, economies of scale, that kind of thing. Economic theory shows that trade should make everybody better off, or it can do in the idealised world that most economists inhabit! But it does raise environmental issues too, not least the energy consumption of moving goods round the world. And for me, there’s a further issue – we need to look at some of the ways in which the international system is regulated and structured. For example, the EU Common Agricultural Policy, and the American government subsidies on some of its farming products, have a huge impact on poor and developing countries, and that’s something I’d like to see action on.

PD: But can economic growth be aligned with the environment?

DN: We have to find a way for that to happen. Most countries are focused on economic wellbeing and growth. Our task is to find the growth that’s consistent with environmental concerns. I visited some villages in Nepal where they’d installed biogas plants. Great – the methane that would have been going into the atmosphere is now used as fuel which is less polluting; fewer trees are being felled for fuel; and people’s health is better because they haven’t got smoky fires in their homes. But biogas costs about the price of a cow or a buffalo to install, and that’s a lot of money for a family in these poor villages. If we could get carbon credits for people putting biogas plants in their homes, it could help pay for their installation. It’s entirely possible.

PD: Here in the UK, WWF has been working with business for many years. Where do you see this relationship going?

DN: The best of what I’ve seen of WWF’s work with business and industry is when there are multiple aspects to the partnership. First, it’s about us influencing that organisation’s policies and practices. Then it’s about the influence that can be brought on its suppliers and their environmental behaviour. Third, it’s to do with going out there together and doing something– getting messages across to the public, the organisation’s staff, its customers and so on. The best of our relationships work when there are all these tracks.

PD: But there’s also a financial aspect...

DN: Yes indeed there is. We aim to raise funds from our business partners to do our conservation work effectively. I very much hope we can extend our partnerships across different industry sectors and build our links with individual companies, groups of companies and even industry associations. In the end, it’s to do with mutual benefit.

"Fresh water will become an increasingly acute issue over the next ten years We have to learn how to harness it in the right way"

In the early 1990s I worked in the packaging industry, and even then we were dealing with environmental concerns in manufacturing operations. So I understand the commercial pressures and responsibilities of businesses grappling with similar issues today. Nevertheless, I think the successful businesses of the futurewill be those anticipating and preparing for tomorrow’s requirements. Environmental pressures will grow, so forward-thinking businesses that are moving ahead now will have the undisputed edge over their competitors.

PD: Turning to business in its broadest sense, you’re just back from China, whose dual influence on the global economy and the environment is ever-growing, isn’t it?

"China has to be part of the next Kyoto agreement, and it has to be treated as one of the great nations on Earth"

DN: It’s huge – as are the environmental challenges, of course. China is probably building a couple of coal-fired power stations a week now, so we need to look seriously at carbon capture and sequestration – getting hold of the carbon, packaging it and storing it somewhere safe. Meanwhile, we in the developed world could be making more progress in using state of the art technologiesin our own power stations and getting more experience of how best to capture carbon.

PD: But what of China’s long-term environmental impact?

DN: What’s crucial is getting China into the global negotiations on what develops from the Kyoto Protocol after 2012. China has to bepart of that new agreement, and it has to be treated as one of the great nations on Earth, which it is. In that context, the Chinese are much more likely to agree to take measures than if we just tell them we don’t like what they’re doing.

"Installing biogas costs the price of a cow. If we could get carbon credits for these villages it could help pay for their installation. It’s entirely possible"

PD: And WWF – what kind of challenges to do you foresee?

DN: I think that over the next ten years, issues surrounding freshwater will becomeincreasingly acute. As people’s living standards increase, as the world’s population increases, there’ll be demand for more food and therefore more water – so we have to learn now how water is to be managed and used, and how we harness it in a way that preserves and develops the environment positively as well as meeting our needs.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, I want to concentrate on developing our relations with the public, with business and with government, including devolved administrations. That embraces collaboration and partnerships with other organisations and NGOs as well as business. I want to see WWF working in a way that’s powerful, productive and effective.

David Nussbaum was formerly chief executive of Transparency International, director of finance, information and planning at Oxfam, and non-executive chair of Traidcraft.

Peter Denton is WWF-UK’s principal editor.

 

WWF-UK is a Forum for the Future partner

10 October 2007

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