Is there a role for activism in Business?

Business Declares has always encouraged businesses to speak out about important issues which impact the climate, ecological and social emergency.

At our inception 3 years ago we galvanised businesses to publicly declare a climate, ecological and social emergency, we were then early business advocates of the CEE Bill, and in our very recent campaign we are calling on businesses to take faster action and be bolder in speaking about the climate crisis.

Speaking out can of course take many different forms.  Ben Tolhurst, one of the Business Declares Directors who has 25 years of corporate experience, is going to explore the role/relevance which direct action/activism may have in business in our event on 2nd November as part of Walk2COP27.   Please do check out this event.

You will have seen the RSPB’s recent press release where they talked about the attack on nature and that they would “not rule out direct action”.  There have of course been lots of examples where direction action has been an important tool for effecting change throughout history including the Suffragettes to the Freedom Riders, and more recently with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil (JSO).

Ben has recently attended a presentation from JSO, who have subsequently offered to meet with any of our members – virtually or face to face, to deliver a similar presentation.  This could be done on an individual members basis or as part of a wider workshop.

The core presentation, entitled “Our responsibilities at this time” lasts about an hour, covers fact checked climate science, the social science behind achieving radical change in short timescales and explores historical examples of peaceful resistance.  One of the most impactful parts is hearing from people who have taken action themselves. They share powerful, inspirational stories of what it’s like to carry out peaceful non violent direct action to wake us up to the reality we face.

We think its important for businesses to be constantly challenging themselves about where they stand on topics such as direct action.  We also recognise that the combination of business and activism/direct action can be a challenging concept. 

If you are potentially interested in exploring how a version of this presentation could be made available for you team – or if you simply want to know more about it first, please contact Ben (bentolhurst@businessdeclares.com). Ben will be very happy to share candidly his personal experience of the JSO event and the material used.