By Michael White
GuardianApril 11, 2001
A cross-party committee of MPs yesterday 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.
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 signaled 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 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Email President George Bush on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
More information about the campaign, Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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