How businesses can support climate activist employees

After more than 350 business leaders joined mass protests against the government’s fossil fuel plans in April, organisations have come together to create a blueprint company policy for climate protest.

Nearly 60,000 people took part in April’s ‘The Big One’, a four-day non-disruptive protest event in London to call on the government to halt all new fossil fuel projects and set up emergency citizens assemblies to lead on solutions.

‘Business want to be more vocal’

Taking part were 200 different organisations including well-known activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace, as well as over 350 representatives from Business Declares – a group of business leaders whose members include a host of SME green technology and services providers, as well as larger organisations like Good Energy, Ecotricity and Green Economy’s own parent organisation, The Growth Company.

Many businesses allowed and actively encouraged teams of their staff to attend the protests. Writing for news website BusinessGreen ahead of the event, Business Declares Director Ben Tolhurst said: “We are getting a strong sense that businesses are increasingly wanting to be more vocal when it comes to protest and activism.”

Company policy for climate activism

As more and more companies find themselves aligned with the goals of climate activism, the question of how to accommodate employees who want to take part in peaceful protest – potentially putting themselves at risk of arrest in the process – is becoming more apparent.

“Employers have been shying away from this stuff,” Tolhurst told BusinessGreen. “The default position is don't get arrested, otherwise whatever the HR policy says will apply. What is happening now is more people are asking, and employers realise they need to have a much better party line on this.”

Business Declares has now launched a blueprint for companies looking to amend their HR policies to cover climate-related non-violent direct action (NVDA) by employees. The template covers reasonable expectations for both employers and employees, including the employer protecting the employment status of a worker if they get arrested and providing support if they face legal action.

Meanwhile, the organisers of The Big One are already in talks to create a new range of campaigns and action across the country to mobilise even more people to their cause.

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