From campaigning to advocacy, policy work and more recently through strategic litigation, public pressure on businesses to become responsible corporate citizens is growing.
A well-known recent case is Friends of the Earth Netherlands, and their 2018 lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell, which they won last year in May. They ran their activist litigation campaign on a mandate that Shell should cut its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030. Now they’re continuing on this path by calling out 30 companies to publish plans on how they intend to cut their emissions. External pressure is here to stay. The question is, how can employees redirect this external pressure to build momentum internally for positive change?
Join the discussion on the Undercover Activist LinkedIn page
Why we Need more Bcorps
Campaigns are great and external pressure remains necessary for many companies to take action. That said, there are ways to incorporate your purpose and positive impact into your company's governance, strategy and operations. One of our favourite movements is the B corp movement; leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Their certification procedure pressures companies to move to a stakeholder economy; putting the interests of communities, customers and workers on equal par to shareholders.
From September, we will be offering a special course for BCorp professionals. Are you in the process of certifying your business or do you have an improvement that could use a more activist mindset, stay tuned or contact us!
Feeling Inspired?
Feeling inspired by what internal and external pressure can do? Are you that employee who wants to use your internal influence to change the business, then sign up for our online course! Find out when the next cohort starts! The course is fully online and you go through it week-by-week with your classmates. You can determine your study pace and engagement per week, with four interactive online sessions across 6 weeks and a final deliverable: Your Action Plan!
Join a webinar and Get a taster of our online course
On the 27th of May, the Undercover Activist will host an online workshop for We Share Talent. This network of people and organisations, from corporates to NGOs, government to start ups hosts events from personal to organisational growth. The workshop will be in English and be a taster of what to expect in a longer course. Register here.
Stuff that inspires us
The Legacy of Luna, a book by Julia Butterfly Hill, - Also called the Rosa Parks of the environmental movement, Julia shares her story of living in Luna, a thousand year old redwood tree she lived in for two years, protecting it from being cut down for a lumber plantation.
We Rise Toolkit - this organisation weaves together stories, tools and ideas from the experiences and insights of women at the forefront of change to provide in-depth learning about movement building.
Creatives for Climate- Hungry for knowledge of sustainable solutions and pathways for change? Join an online, active community that hosts learning events and knowledge sessions for people who want to use their skills for good.
Andrea Wulf - the invention of nature, the adventures of Alexander from Humboldt. Perceiving nature as an interconnected global force, Humboldt discovered similarities between climate zones across the world and predicted human-induced climate change.