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A cross-party committee of MPs have launched an unprecedented campaign to persuade Coca-Cola's customers around the world to strongarm the global soft drinks company into backing the Kyoto protocols against global warming. Tory backbenchers such as Peter Bottomley and Liberal Democrat Tom Brake have joined 30 Labour MPs in launching what they hope will turn into the global email campaign, directed at Coca-Cola's "ear, not its wallet". The group has the support of MEPs at Strasbourg, the French green party and Joe Lieberman, who was Al Gore's running mate in November.
They believe that Coca-Cola's marketing image as a drink for young people makes it vulnerable to pressure from precisely that group of consumers.
Which is exactly the point US made on Naomi Kleins channel 4 news 'anti-capitalism special' back in September. (name dropping!!) The former consumer affairs minister, Nigel Griffiths said, "We turn not to the foes of President Bush, but to his friends, those whose wise counsels have influenced the president, those whose wide pockets have sustained him."
The MPs are targeting Coca-Cola because it gave nearly $1m to George Bush's campaign for the presidency last year.
They also think it's a bit off that Coca-Cola has borrowed the Environmentalists' slogan "think globally, act locally," which is becoming a trend in corporate marketing strategy, Shell is another firm which has recently undergone a green 'rebranding.' Kyoto requires industrialised countries to cut their output of carbon gases, mainly the result of burning gas, coal and oil, which are warming the atmosphere, with perilous consequences. George Bush says that Kyoto is ineffective and unfair to the US, because under the agreement China and India won't have quotas. The developing countries are being helped to convert to cleaner technology, but do not have emission quotas, because of the costs of conversion. Ministers in Beijing are said to be angry about his attitude because they believe the industrialised countries are by far the biggest polluters, and should therefore make the most effort initially. The White House have recently suggested that because America produces 1/3 of the worlds goods and services, it's only right they should produce 1/3 of the pollution. Which is exactly the same free market logic that got us in this position in the first place.
Greenpeace said it had written to the 100 biggest companies, including the largest energy corporations, demanding they declare their opposition to the Bush policy or face the consequences. Their executive director -Gerd Leipold- said, "The American people can register their opinions at the ballot box, but for the rest of the world, all we can do is register our opinions via the marketplace." Friends of the Earth Europe have joined in too, announcing that 50,000 emails to protest Mr Bush's decision had been sent to the White House via its website since March 29.
At peak times, emails have been landing at one a second, it said, adding that the White House server had reportedly crashed twice on April 7th under the influx.
Recent polls suggest that American public opinion is shifting towards seeking to implement the Kyoto deal which will be discussed again in Berlin in July. It would mean the US has to cut carbon emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012, but they'd still be the worst offenders in the world. Seyi Rhodes