A Contract with the Earth

5. Partnering for the Earth

5 Partnering for the Earth If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail. winston churchill This page intentionally left blank 63 when winston churchill said, ‘‘If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all will fail,’’ the Allies were in the midst of the greatest military struggle of the twentieth century. Perhaps if Churchill were alive in our time, he would direct his supportive comments to one of the epic challenges of the new century, the protection , restoration, and renewal of the natural world. Our environment’s current state represents both a unique challenge and a golden opportunity. If we respond with the ingenuity and diligence consistent with our national heritage and our sense of duty, we will not only begin to resolve our environmental problems, but we will also launch an unprecedented epoch of economic prosperity. No person or entity, especially the business community, can a√ord to sit on the sidelines as our natural resources are squandered and degraded. The operating concept is remarkably simple: The business of conservation will generate revenue, whereas a high price will be paid if we ignore the warning signs of our troubled planet. America will benefit economically and culturally from fostering partnerships that generate new environmental business opportunities . Working together, responsible environmental groups, neighborhoods, governments, small businesses, and major corporations will shape a future bound by a common cause—the environment—and against the common foes of inertia, indi√erence, and apathy. A widely held misrepresentation about business and conservation maintains that the two are necessary but A Contract with the Earth 64 largely incompatible. Fortunately, business partnerships on behalf of the environment are not some abstraction or propaganda ploy; they are well documented in scores of successful environmental projects. This chapter explores a few of them. If America is to be serious about leading a worldwide partnership, let us begin by tallying the need. We must do as follows: 1. Lead the cleanup of the world’s polluted lands and waters. 2. Invent new and clean sources and systems of energy production. 3. Lead the e√ort to reduce or eliminate greenhouse gases and airborne contaminants. 4. Assist nature in repairing our threatened reefs and wetlands. 5. Create a fully recycling society. 6. Recognize that we live in the environment—breathe it, eat it, and raise our families within it. Earth is our home. As environmental enterprise expands to fill the need, the potential creation of prosperity is enormous. Endless tales of success can be used as guideposts. One leading environmental player is a uniquely entrepreneurial nongovernmental organization that promotes partnerships throughout the world; the highly regarded nonprofit Partnering for the Earth 65 Conservation International (CI). A segment of their mission statement follows: to conserve the living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. Conservation International’s environmental profile has been elevated by its public record of success in establishing conservation partnerships with global corporations. For example, CI teamed up with the Ford Motor Company to establish the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business. Their joint goal is to engage the private sector worldwide to create solutions to critical environmental problems in which industry plays a defining role. The partnership works on both local and global levels to create best practices that support conservation and promote e√ective policy solutions. Their partnership takes on challenges in many of the world’s most vulnerable ‘‘conservation hotspots,’’ regions containing high levels of biodiversity . These locations are a global priority for conservation, and many contain a tremendous number of species at risk of extinction. In species-rich Ecuador, for example, CI has fostered a partnership in the northern coastal rain forest to preserve and connect the Choco-Darien Western Ecuador Hotspot. This hotspot is one of the world’s most fragile regions of biological and cultural diversity. A small A Contract with the Earth 66 area, it is home to an astounding 800 species of birds and mammals, including jaguars and the rare mantled howler monkey. The situation is complicated because less than 2 percent of Ecuador’s coastal rain forest is still reasonably intact. Like many places, rapid and devastating deforestation has ripped gaping holes in the natural fabric of this country’s ecosystems. Ford; CI and its local partner, the Jatun Sacha Foundation (Ecuador’s largest...