From radical campaigner and Green Party politician to working with big business and advising Tony Blair, Jonathon Porritt's CV lists an incredible array of achievements. With such a wide range of different job experiences under his belt, how does he think young people can make the biggest difference to the world through their careers? Can you really change things from the inside? Is there any point in getting involved with a political party? Jess Worth finds out.

Join the party

Jonathan Porritt first grabbed the headlines in the 1980s as an outspoken environmentalist with radical views on the state of the planet and what should be done about it. He was closely involved with the fledgling Green Party, being co-chair for five years.

For him, this was a way to tackle what he saw as huge deep-seated structural problems in society, rather than “soft-selling” them as superficial problems that could be glossed over. Despite his recent move into "mainstream" politics and more limited involvement with radical green politics, he remains convinced that joining the Green Party is vital for young people seeking a positive green agenda.

“The Green Party is still the best way of getting involved and effecting change for people who are serious about politics and trying to get to grips with the level of disfunctionality in our society," he says. "It is the only party that even comes close to telling people the scale of the challenges and providing innovative ways to tackle them.”

So, with such a belief in the important role of radical political parties, why did Porritt largely sever his involvement with the Green Party in order to become Director of Friends of the Earth?

He is quick to point out that his move had nothing to do with anything so gossip-worthy as problems with the Green Party leadership or a change in his political views. He was just thrilled to be offered a “simply amazing” opportunity to actually get paid to be a radical green activist. To accept the directorship, he also had to sign a pledge not to be involved in any party political activity, automatically meaning he had to reduce his involvement with the Green Party.

Radical campaigning

During his directorship of Friends of the Earth, he played the role of radical campaigner, working to effect change from the "outside" of the government and big business by publicly challenging them on their environmentally destructive activities.

Although Friends of the Earth was not against working in partnership with other organisations and sectors to further the aims of its campaigns, many of these partnership attempts “failed completely”, much to Porritt's annoyance. This inability to work in partnership led to a growing unease about the role of campaigning, his career direction and whether the organisation had “got the balance right between the confrontational stuff and the partnership stuff.”

Despite continuing to recognise the value of radical campaigning and tackling issues from the "outside", Porritt's personal emphasis began to change towards working with big business on the "inside".

The Road to Rio

These concerns about Friends of the Earth's approach were further fuelled by the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The summit, he comments, was a “real eye-opener”, bringing him into contact with people and organisations that he had never been involved with at Friends of the Earth.

He was impressed at the diversity of interests represented, from business people to interfaith leaders, all of whom were “taking environmental issues very seriously and were committed to making real changes.”

The summit really convinced Porritt that NGOs and governments had to stop tackling issues like the environment and human rights in isolation. Instead, "sustainable development", he believed, was the way forward - creating a future where all the earth's inhabitants could live within its resources and fulfil all their needs.

Changing tack

This new thinking lay behind his next dramatic shift in career direction - from radical environmental campaigner to working in partnership with big business and the very corporations Friends of the Earth passionately criticised for causing climate change and environmental destruction.

His aims of moving beyond "greenwash" (i.e. companies using their apparent commitment to environmental issues as a PR exercise) towards creating real lasting change, were to be achieved by a new organisation, Forum for the Future.

Forum for the Future

This non-profit-making charity was established to work with businesses and government and, rather than berating them for their failings, would share dilemmas and examples of best practice. "Forum engaged with organisations that are very good at finding reasons not to do things today, but to put them off until tomorrow, and persuade them to do it NOW," says Porritt. "To make a real leadership challenge of it and ensure that it was core to their organisational culture and philosophy.”

The creation of Forum, and Porritt's new role as director, has brought many new excitements and challenges. He freely admits that the mandate to only work with organisations that have the potential to be sustainable in the future ultimately means that they are NOT sustainable now and the Forum must tackle complex logistical and ethical dilemmas to achieve its goals.

Moral dilemmas 

These dilemmas include such difficult and challenging issues as whether to work with BAA, who build and run airports. The decision has required deep questioning regarding the role of flying in a sustainable future and what this sustainability might look like. Porritt believes that, despite the enormous environmental issues associated with flying, few people, if really challenged, would say that in a sustainable future no one should ever fly.

The challenge facing Porritt and the team is therefore to make flying and sustainability compatible. The exact nature of this compatibility it still being discussed but could potentially involve “technological changes” or perhaps changes “in how hydrocarbons are used in society, to address climate change issues.”

"Sold out?"

The move to working with big business has also brought personal challenges and Porritt warns that those seeking to work in this area must be prepared to face tough questioning, both from their own consciences and also from others.

He has also faced a barrage of personal criticism from people who believe that he has “sold out” and lost his radical edge. Many of his critics believe that working with business is fundamentally unethical and that these companies are essentially “exploiting the sustainability agenda for their own purposes when it suits them".

"And when it doesn't," he adds, "they're getting on and focusing on the commercial reality of making money, without a second thought for the environment.”

Ethically "inside" the system?

Despite these challenges however, he “genuinely believes” that it is “perfectly possible to be ethical inside the system, as well as outside the system”. It is absolutely crucial however that people working in business try to remain objective and don't get taken in by the glossy PR image of corporations who can spend millions marketing their "green" credentials.

Porritt says people have to balance their personal knowledge of the individuals in these companies, who admittedly tend to be the sustainable development champions, with where the company is corporately and not get dulled into a sense of judging the company by the ethics and commitment of the individuals who front it.

Porritt absolutely refutes the idea that all young people should follow in his footsteps by working with major corporations. Campaigning from the outside is invaluable and is not replaced by the "insider" approach. Rather, he believes the two are “mutually compatible” and “dependent on each other.”

Campaigning raises the bar 

Despite his personal focus on the "inside track", he is therefore crucially aware that himself, and others like him, are dependent on radical, confrontational, responsible campaigning in order to keep raising the bar and reminding people of the nature of change that's still required.

Not one for passing up a challenge, Porritt has recently added another new level to his CV by being appointed Chairman of the UK government's new Sustainable Development Commission. The Commission was established as the principle advisory body to the government on sustainable development issues and exists to work with a broad range of interest groups to promote sustainable development.

Despite his high-flying past, this recent move has proved that career changes can be challenging, whatever your background and level of experience. Porritt's belief in the principles of sustainable development, of engaging multiple stakeholders and tackling change on several fronts remains firm, but he admits that he has found mainstream politics frustrating.

Different parts of government don't always link up and work well together, which means there are “tens of thousands of civil servants and a large percentage of elected MPs in this country who really don't understand what it means to do things sustainably”. This is something Porritt believes can only be achieved when departments start talking and working together in a co-ordinated way.

Career advice

So, with his unique insight into so many different ways of effecting change, at the end of the day what does he really believe is the answer for young people with a belief in sustainable development who are torn between choosing a mainstream job and trying to change things from the inside, or working for a campaigning organisation offering a radical critique from the outside?

Despite his campaigning background and continued commitment to radical green politics, Porritt smiles and says: “A bit of me still says, 'Don't go and join Greenpeace because that's the easy thing to do. Be true to what you believe in passionately and go and be a banker. Change this system from inside. Do it that way because it's much harder and more problematic. It will put you through the mangle day in, day out, and will probably cause you to question your own morality and values.'

"But ultimately it's just as good as becoming a green activist of the rather more recognisable kind.”

The Green Party
www.greenparty.org.uk

Sustainable Development Commission
www.sd-commission.org.uk

Forum for the Future
www.forumforthefuture.org.uk

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