GreenFacts Foundation

GreenFacts Foundation

GreenFacts Foundation is a Brussels-based, industry funded NGO.

Funding

As is stated on its website, it was started with funding from the chemical company Solvay.

According to the GreenFacts foundation website in December 2004, it is now funded by:

"Carrefour, CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council, jointly with Euro Chlor and PlasticsEurope), Ferrari Textiles, P&G, Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, Solvay, Suez, Total and several individual donors."

The main stated activity of GreenFacts is the production of summaries of important studies. However, as outlined below, they are now also active in the policy debate.

Who are GreenFacts?

GreenFacts claims to be: "a multi-stakeholder, non-profit organization, based in Brussels, dedicated to providing non-specialists with unbiased scientific information on environment and health matters."

It also claims to be a "nonprofit, non-advocacy organization based in Brussels, Belgium, composed of stakeholders in the environment and health debates (scientific institutions, NGOs and industrial groups)"

However, the only actual link with environmental NGOs within the governance structure is the presence of an ex-CEO of WWF Belgium on the staff, and the current CEO of WWF France as one of the 'Active Members'. However, as the web site points out, "All members of GreenFacts commit themselves on a purely personal basis. Their involvement does not constitute an official position of their other affiliations".

The use of the phrase 'stakeholders in ...NGOs' manages to imply the engagement of NGOs, whilst in fact it is only a couple of individuals from NGOs. A similar phraseology is also used on press releases and other materials, to imply (incorrectly) that environmental NGOs were involved in setting up GreenFacts, for example:

"GreenFacts was formed in December 2001 by stakeholders from the academe, industrial groups and environmental NGOs concerned about the difficulties of communicating scientific information on environment and health issues." in this press release.

Summarising documents

The main activity of GreenFacts appears - at first sight - to be the publication of 'Green Facts', in the form of summaries of important reports such as the IPCC report on climate change, and the IPCS report on endocrine disrupters. These summaries are then published on the GreenFacts website.

As part of the summarising process, GreenFacts approaches experts in the field to review the summaries they are producing. Many experts have accepted these invitations, as this seems to be an entirely reasonable request. The names of these experts are then listed on the GreenFacts website, adding credibility to the organisation.

Policy engagement

However, Green Facts has moved beyond summarising documents, and is now actively engaging in the policy debate. Its main target has been the European Union's Environment and Health process. The chemical industry in Europe is also heavily engaged in lobbying around this process.

Following a meeting on this process in December 2003, GreenFacts put out a press release entitled "GreenFacts reactions to the first EU SCALE consultative forum: GreenFacts welcomes the initiative and stresses the need for sound scientific approach", which quotes GreenFacts general manager as saying:

"With an issue as sensitive as children’s health, it must be ensured that political pressures do not override scientific information and the need for sound methodology"

It is unclear how such clear policy statements can be reconciled with the claimed aim of GreenFacts to be a 'non advocacy organisation', and indeed this comments in this press release are echoed by a [press release issued at the same time by CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council.

In addition, GreenFacts is engaging in the debate over risk communication, for example in a workshop on 2nd December 2004 at a European Commission meeting on the Environment and Health strategy.

Conclusion

GreenFacts is an industry funded NGO, which claims to have been formed by a wide range of stakeholders. It has established a level of credibility through its production of summary documents, and it now appears to be using this activity as a way of more deeply engaging in the policy debate.

The two key areas of GreenFacts engagement as an advocacy organisation are currently:

1) Promotion of "Sound science" before taking action 2) Risk Communication, a very controversial area, closely linked to the debate on the precautionary principle

These are well known priorities for chemical industry lobbying, which would provide a rationale for Solvay and CEFIC funding of this organisation.

The addition of two companies in the food sector to the list of GreenFacts funders - the supermarket group Carrefour and the sugar company Raffinerie Tirlemontoise - suggests that GreenFacts may start working on the food sector.