Pressure from the campus: How a network of student groups is getting big organisations to think green

Martin Hodgson, The Guardian, Society section, p 9, 13 November 2002

The lecture theatre rings with the sound of pounding beats and screeching guitars as the images flicker across the video screen: drilling rigs, fast cars, well-groomed executives - and the trademarked prowling tiger.

It's a rainy autumn night, and the Exxon Mobil graduate recruitment machine has touched down at London's Imperial College. "We want the best and the brightest - we want unconventional thinkers and exceptional talent," booms the voiceover on the introductory film.

Nobody notices when four audience members don swimsuits, goggles and beach towels. But by the time they are standing below the screen, nobody can ignore them. As the video reaches its climax, they slowly unfurl a banner: "Exxon is not listening about climate change."

The protesters - from People & Planet, a nationwide network of student groups campaigning for environmental and global justice - hope to discourage fellow students from joining a company they accuse of contributing to global warming and blocking attempts to regulate greenhouse gases.

Exxon officials, who deny P&P's claims, say the campaign, which has been going a year and is still building, hasn't affected their annual recruitment drive, but even the world's largest oil company might be advised to be wary of an adversary with P&P's track record.

Over recent years, the group has mustered the support of thousands of university and sixth-form students, and led a series of high-profile and often highly effective campaigns on a range of environmental, development and human rights issues.

In coalition with US students, the group organised a boycott of Pepsi in 1996, forcing the company to withdraw from Burma. Three years later, they helped persuade one of the UK's largest pension funds to adopt an ethical investment policy, and last month they were instrumental in convincing Oxford University to switch to green electricity.

"They've been hugely successful at a time when the myth is that students and young people are not interested in global issues," says Martin Drewry, head of campaigns at Christian Aid.

Originally known as Third World First, the group was founded in 1969 to raise money for overseas aid, but in 1996 it was relaunched with a specific focus on campaigning.

"We're not trying to be a fundraising organisation or research group," says P&P campaign director Guy Hughes. "We decided to be a grassroots student campaigning network. And to do it really well." Now 70% of UK universities and some 150 sixth-form colleges have P&P groups, each setting its own agenda, but able to rely on a central office in Oxford to provide background information and tactical support.

Its website is full of suggestions for budding campaigners, with advice on everything from writing a press release to mounting political theatre, like that Imperial College undersea protest. It's this combination of energy and attention to practical detail that has won the group the respect of many seasoned activists.

"They recognise that if you want to change the world then you've got to be serious about it," says Adrian Lovett, campaigns director at Oxfam. "And while they seem to have a lot of fun on the way, they're very focused about achieving their objectives."

The group's choice of campaigns reflects a wider realisation that, as the influence of international bodies and transnational corporations continues to grow, it has become harder to separate social and environmental issues, says Hughes. "The new generation of activists don't make distinctions between environment and development - it's all about global justice."

Last month, Oxford University announced its plan to switch to electricity generated from renewable resources, making it the fourth university to change to 100% green power as a result of a P&P campaign.

Paul Williams, a PhD student involved in the Oxford campaign, says: "We decided from the start that we wouldn't just stand outside the vice-chancellor's office, shouting and waving banners. We took a more reasoned approach."

College by college, the local P&P group lobbied students, presented their case and corresponded with university authorities. Within 10 months, the university announced its plan to switch to green electricity.

The decision will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 50,000 tonnes a year - and provide high-profile evidence that change is possible, says Hughes. "It's important that you can give concrete examples of world-famous public institutions taking a stand for environmental responsibility," he says. "Because we've been successful here, people can believe that they can bring about successful change as well."

Britain's third largest pension plan, the University Superannuation Scheme, overhauled its investment practices after P&P joined forces with a group of dons campaigning for an ethical policy. "It was a marriage made in heaven," says Rob Gray, at Glasgow University. "By combining, we [the lecturers] could lend a bit of clout, and they gave us the backing. We couldn't have kept it going on our own."

"People & Planet have been very successful at working in coalition with other groups," says Drewry. "Because the issues are increasingly globalised, you have to be part of a national or global alliance to be effective."

"We're trying to change the world - it's vital that we get everyone onboard," says Nick Davies, one of the undersea protesters and a London University student.