Feeding all will cost the earth by 2050

Shaping markets, working with companies that have poor environmental records, hiring corporate executives – it seems a far cry from the organisation born in 1961 when a small group of individuals pledged to rescue endangered species. But WWF’s Jason Clay argues that to help tackle big global challenges, organisations such as his need to adopt radically new strategies.

“We came to realise that one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and ecosystems was where and how we produce food,” says Mr Clay. “And if we don’t get that right in the next 30 or 40 years, we can turn off the lights and go home.”

His title says it all. As WWF’s senior vice-president of market transformation, Mr Clay’s task is no less than the reshaping of supply chains. The idea is to promote models that feed the world while conserving the natural resources that sustain life on earth.

This is no small undertaking for an organisation that does not manufacture anything, has no purchasing power and cannot make or enforce regulations.

To have any influence, Mr Clay explains, WWF must change the policies and practices of others. And as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with finite financial resources, this means thinking carefully about the bang it gets for each buck.

So, rather than deploy resources in attempting to shift the buying patterns of billions of consumers, WWF is working to help the retailers, buyers and producers responsible for key food commodities reduce the environmental impact of their activities.

It has identified about 100 companies that collectively buy and sell 25 per cent of the commodities WWF has prioritised, from soya and cotton to sugarcane, palm oil and beef.

This has involved a big corporate shift for WWF and its employees, as it has had to move from creating its own programmes to launching initiatives designed to influence the activities of others. “It’s been a real journey and some people do it better than others,” says Mr Clay.

It can also be tough, he adds, to persuade some colleagues to work with companies that have poor environmental track records and that may even be under attack by campaign groups such as Greenpeace.

But it is not always easy for the WWF to recruit executives from business for its new partnerships with the private sector. Along with many NGOs, it cannot always compete with corporate pay levels.

On the other hand, what it does pay incoming business executives can look overly generous to other employees.

This is a particular challenge in emerging markets. “A big issue is getting our offices in the Brics to hire people from business and pay them what they need to,” says Mr Clay. “That’s a big cultural shift and I have the scars to prove it.”

Of course, WWF is not alone in tapping into private sector talent. Since 2008, The Nature Conservancy has had at its helm Mark Tercek, a former Goldman Sachs managing director and partner. And this year, it hired former Starbucks executive Ben Packard as its director of corporate engagements.

Along with many large environmental NGOs and UN agencies, WWF has recognised that, in order to shift consumption patterns and help develop sustainable supply chains, it needs to employ people with fresh skills.

In the process, of course, there will be losers. However, Mr Clay says that organisations such as WWF have to be realistic.

“There has to be a recognition at some point that we’re not employment agencies,” he says. “We have to bring on the people we need with the skills we need. It’s a tougher world than it used to be.”