Tackle big business

Businesses aim to maximise returns to shareholders, sometimes at the expense of the environment and without concern for social impacts. Globalisation and the rush to be internationally competitive compound the problem.

Thankfully, many businesses now respond positively to pressure from activists. They enjoy the competitive advantages that come with developing a green, sustainable corporate reputation.

As a consumer and a voter, your actions are carefully monitored by companies that want your business. We can change corporations by identifying those which are truly committed to sustainable development and exposing those which are not.

Purchasing power

As consumers, we have the ultimate sanction against unethical business. We simply stop buying their products. This may even include an international boycott..

Find out where to buy true food, clean energy and good wood

Spread the word on the internet

Corporations are vulnerable to negative publicity. Given the global reach of the internet, corporate crimes in Papua New Guinea, West Africa or in the middle of the Southern Ocean can be relayed to the whole world almost instantaneously.

Setting up an ethical watchdog website is a way to inform investors and other stakeholders of the behaviour of corporations. You could also try some online activism by starting your own website or blog. Learn more at www.netaction.org/training

Become a shareholder

If you want to engage a company and its board of directors, become a shareholder. Attend annual general meetings and ask appropriate questions so that other shareholders become informed of the company's practices. A copy of the shareholders' register is available (usually at a fee) and you may even be able to encourage other shareholders to join your cause.

All listed companies must produce and publish an annual report. You can obtain a copy by calling them or visiting their website. An annual report will list a company's activities and profits over the last year. There is now a trend for companies to also produce environmental annual reports. This shows the growing pressure on companies to be green. But the appearance of green strategies doesn't necessarily mean a business is embracing environmental practices. Plenty of companies "greenwash" and it's important to investigate the substance behind their public facade.

Direct lobbying

You can organise to meet with corporate executives to get your message across. Remember when talking to the business sector that their core motivation is to preserve their company's reputation.

Executives will focus on the organisational costs and benefits of your demands. Try to develop a relationship with someone within the organisation and be very clear about your message. Look for ways to maintain a dialogue with the organisation without compromising your position.

Impact on the corporate image

You could take your protest to the streets, either outside the company's office or to the site of the company's wrongdoing.

When corporations fight dirty

You must check what your legal position is when making a public statement about particular individuals or a company. Some companies have little hesitation using the legal system to quieten people they consider a nuisance. Organisations like the Environmental Defenders Office in your capital city specialise in such legal advice.

Legal action

If you can prove you have been directly harmed as a result of a negligent corporate activity, you can sue. Class actions against tobacco companies are just the beginning of the next community movement to defend ourselves from corporate monopoly, by using the law to defend our rights. We are sure to see more of this sort of class action against the corporate sector in the future.

Activist tools

Center For Media And Democracy
www.prwatch.org
A site dedicated to investigative reporting on the public relations industry. The Center serves citizens, journalists and researchers seeking to recognise and combat manipulative and misleading PR practices.

Corporate Watch
www.corpwatch.org
How to research a corporation on the internet.

Multinational Monitor
www.essential.org
Tracks corporate activity, especially in the Third World, focusing on the export of hazardous substances, worker health and safety, labor union issues and the environment.

New Internationalist
www.newint.org
New Internationalist publications report on issues of world poverty and inequality and campaign for radical changes necessary for the basic material and spiritual needs of all to be met.

Adbusters
www.adbusters.org
Adbusters goal is to "galvanize resistance against those who would destroy the environment, pollute our minds and diminish our lives". This site hosts a number of exciting online activist tools.