Once a year, the leadership from Greenpeace offices around the world come together, to reflect on our progress, identify challenges and approve initiatives we consider essential to support the success of our mission for a just, green and peaceful future.
There are always many topics on the agenda — too many — and following this year’s Executive Director’s meeting, we’d like to share our discussions and agreements around #TimesUp: Justice, Safety, and Diversity at Greenpeace.
Greenpeace Executive Directors meeting, June 2018
A few months ago we shared our thoughts on the #MeToo movement and how it spurred deeper organisational reflection and a clear understanding that there can be no green peace without equity. We knew that we could improve our organisational policies and procedures but we also knew that we had to address the root causes of inequity and harassment, like all of society, and that meant we also have to address our organisational culture.
Building on and accelerating work that was underway over the last few years, we’ve spent some time focussing on what that would look like. Here is some of what we, all of the Executive Directors of Greenpeace offices globally, unanimously agreed:
1. Access to justice
We are creating space for all staff – those for whom we have a duty of care, which includes ship’s crew – who have experienced sexual harassment to come forward and report their experiences. We seek to ensure that all cases, no matter when they occurred, are appropriately considered and responded to. We’ve already established a team to manage these complaints.
2. Investing in diversity
We will invest in continued education through trainings and workshops on issues like harassment prevention, unconscious bias and structural power. This will be backed by the diversity plans in all of our offices. We will strive for diversity, as appropriate to each national context. This includes a goal of 50% women in the senior leadership team of every office. We recognise that diversity and inclusion are necessary at every level of our organisation, so we are asking our Boards and the Trustees to do the same.
3. Improving our systems
Many Greenpeace offices already have systems for training, reporting and investigating incidents that violate their codes of conduct, but we still have some work to do before this is consistent with a global standard. We are committed to improving our integrity systems and making sure there are a clear set of common definitions, systems and procedures in place by October 2018.
4. Zero tolerance
We are committed to strengthen our anti-harassment policy, revising global models to emphasise our Zero Tolerance for harassment, bullying and discrimination. A Zero Tolerance position will ensure that sexual, verbal, or physical harassment, bullying and any kind of discrimination including based on gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, faith, or any other aspect of our beings will never be tolerated. Every accusation of harassment, bullying or discrimination will be immediately and thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken. This could include a written warning, training, probation or termination.
5. Root causes
We will continue to examine how systematic marginalisation and issues of equity intersect with our core mission and values as Greenpeace. We’re committed to justice and creating a safe space for everyone, and promise to continue to show up and do the work necessary to build the world we all know is possible.
While we know that this plan is just a starting point, it is a crucial one. We are learning more each day — as individuals and as an organisation — about how to bring our collective vision of a just, green and peaceful world to life.
Like all of you, we joined this movement, community, and organisation because we believed in its mission for a better future. We understand, without a doubt, that in order to build that future, we have to ensure an equitable and safe space for all.
Jennifer Morgan and Bunny McDiarmid are Executive Directors at Greenpeace International.
