Bend Coke's ear on Kyoto, say MPs
"The MPs are targeting Coca-Cola
because it gave nearly $1m to GEORGE
BUSH's campaign for the presidency last
year. They are also incensed that
Coca-Cola has borrowed the
environmentalists' slogan "think globally,
act locally" but think it can be persuaded
to act upon it. "
Special report: global warming
Michael White, political editor
Wednesday April 11, 2001
The Guardian
A cross-party committee of MPs
yesterday launched an unprecedented
campaign to persuade Coca-Cola's
customers around the world to strong arm
the global soft drinks company into
backing the Kyoto protocols against
global warming.
They appealed to young customers to
bombard both Coca-Cola - initially in
Britain - and the White House directly.
"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," said the former consumer
affairs minister, Nigel Griffiths.
The MPs are targeting Coca-Cola
because it gave nearly $1m to George
Bush's campaign for the presidency last
year. They are also incensed that
Coca-Cola has borrowed the
environmentalists' slogan "think globally,
act locally" but think it can be persuaded
to act upon it.
Though they are in touch with MEPs at
Strasbourg, with French greens and with
Joe Lieberman, Al Gore's running mate in
November, the MPs believe that
Coca-Cola's marketing image as a drink
for young people makes it vulnerable to
pressure from precisely that group of
consumers.
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 National Union of Students is also
backing the campaign. Tony Blair and his
ministers have signalled their dismay that
Mr Bush has reversed his campaign
pledge to back Kyoto.
But there are signs that American public
opinion is shifting towards seeking to
implement the Kyoto deal - stalled in
December - which will be discussed in
Berlin in July. It would commit the US to
cut carbon emissions by 7% below 1990
levels by 2012.
Join the campaign
• Email the UK vice president of Coca
Cola, Thomson Long, on
tlong@eur.ko.com
• Email President George Bush on
president@whitehouse.gov
More information about the campaign
Email ngriffithsmp@parliament.uk
to find out more
guardian.co.uk |
