power of the media by drawing attention to their respective activities. WWF garnered considerable media attention for Project Tiger, an initiative to set up tiger reserves in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. For Greenpeace, images of protesters confronting Russian whalers provided a powerful media "mindbomb" that spread throughout the world. In appealing to the public, both organizations utilized symbols: WWF's use of a cuddly panda and Greenpeace's native Cree legend, Warriors of the Rainbow, both of which are still prominent.
Today, the campaigns of both entities have broadened to encompass a wide range of environmental issues. In carrying out its activities, Greenpeace maintains no allies or enemies and only accepts donations from individuals and foundation grants. WWF takes on a collaborator-lobbyist approach with governments and businesses. Unlike Greenpeace, WWF accepts donations from corporations and governments. It also licenses its distinguished Panda trademark to companies that follow certain environmental standards. WWF maintains public relationships with a number of multinationals. In the 1990s, WWF was instrumental in setting up certification societies in coordination with major companies-the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), for responsible forestry and fishing, for instance. In 2000, WWF worked with another NGO to develop the Climate Savers program. To date, the program has 12 major corporations, amongst which are Nike, Sony, and IBM. All have agreed to the reduction of quantifiable greenhouse gases by set dates.
Q: In general, how effective have these organizations been in achieving their goals? When it comes to climate change, evidence would suggest they have not had much influence.
A: This is one of the quagmires of the case series. Before delving into the organizations' achievement of their goals in class, we look at what is happening to the earth. I start by asking, Why do we use natural resources in the first place? Most students believe that population growth is one of the major reasons for consuming natural raw materials; the increasing earth's population leads to a greater need for food and resources. At the same time, it also, unfortunately, leads to conflict. From the need comes exploitation of natural resources, investment in food technologies, and investment in war technologies. In essence, this causes the earth's "vicious cycle."
Looking back, this cycle has existed in some form for over 2,000 years. Arguably, until the 20th century, it was not part of the public conscience. So, why now? One possible explanation is that the earth's vicious cycle spins faster than before because of new technologies; faster population growth; higher production of goods, which requires more energy and creates more pollutants; and war technology such as nuclear bombs, which cause overwhelming physical damage to the planet.
Having covered the earth's vicious cycle, we can then move into looking specifically at the organizations' goals. Greenpeace's goal is "to ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and WWF's is "to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature." The challenge for a business student is how to put a quantifiable measure on whether these organizations are successful in reaching their goals. Clearly, financial statements do not suffice.
Q: What would other measures of value be?
A: Since Greenpeace's and WWF's goals are not linked to a profit-objective, in class we look at how the organizations create value. WWF representatives might say that value comes through increased awareness and conservation projects such as reducing the bycatch of turtles or increasing the use of alternative energy. Similarly, Greenpeace members might underscore the achievement of victories such as Apple's phasing out of harmful chemicals in the manufacturing of its computers or the government of New Zealand's decision to halt the development of a coal energy plant.
In the very genera