The Organisation of Radical Cambridge Activists (ORCA) accused the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) of “greenwashing” at a protest on Friday afternoon (28/11).

Around 15 activists – both students and members of the wider community – gathered outside the Entopia Building on Regent Street, where the Institute is based. In addition to ORCA, the protest involved members of Cambridge Climate Justice (CCJ) and Cambridge For Palestine (C4P).

Starting around 4pm, the activists tied banners to the building’s railings reading, “Stop Greenwashing, Come Clean” and “CISL, Leading in Greenwashing”. During speeches by representatives of each organisation, the protesters waved Palestinian flags and handed out leaflets to passers by.

Founded in 1989, CISL describes itself as bringing together “business, government and academia to find solutions to sustainability challenges”. As well as offering postgraduate programmes and online courses, the Institute conducts research and advises companies on sustainability.

ORCA especially opposes its Corporate Leaders Group, which includes companies such as Coca-Cola, the insurer AXA, and the mining company Anglo American.

The protesters called on CISL to “cut all financial, operational and reputational ties” with these companies, end “all work with fossil fuel companies, including education and consultation work,” and stop partnering with “organisations who manufacture or use weapons”.

CISL has denied working with several of the mentioned companies and told Varsity,“we currently have no active direct projects or partnerships with dedicated fossil fuel companies, and we do not expect to have in the future”.

This demonstration forms part of a long campaign against the Institute by ORCA, who organised a similar protest in May.

In their leaflets, the activists called Coca-Cola “the world’s biggest plastic polluter” which “commits land and water abuses and then murders activists who oppose this”. They targeted AXA for insuring the biomass energy company Drax, which ORCA describes as “the UK’s biggest carbon emitter”, and for appearing on the list of companies accused by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement of complicity in the oppression of Palestinians.

Anglo American received special attention at the demonstration. After the speeches, the protesters projected a short documentary about the impacts of the company’s Quellaveco mine on indigenous people in Peru onto the side of the Entopia Building.

In response to these claims, a CISL spokesperson said: “We believe today’s climate, nature and inequality crises are driven by economic systems that reward harmful practices and allow social and environmental costs to be ignored.

“Many large companies have contributed to these problems, and past corporate sustainability efforts have often fallen far short. This is something we have increasingly called out.

“Our approach is to push for system-level change by working with the organisations – including major businesses – that have the ability and responsibility to shift whole markets.

“We only work with companies when we believe there is credible potential for meaningful change, and we are transparent about our expectations: aligning with science, ending harmful practices over time, and enabling fair and sustainable economies.

“We also recognise that students and campaigners are right to scrutinise this work. Change will not come from business as usual, and challenge from civil society, including students, plays an important role,” they added. 

On their website, the Institute outlines various “core principles” they aim to abide by regarding company partnerships.

The protest follows two CCJ demonstrations this term calling on the Careers Service to cut ties with arms, mining, and fossil fuel companies. The CCJ representative referenced this campaign during their speech, leading chants of “What do we want? Fossil Free Careers”.

Meanwhile, the C4P speaker discussed CISL’s alleged “ties to the genocide in Palestine”. Turning their megaphone towards the building, they declared: “To the people working at CISL, CISL does not care about you.”

The demonstration also follows a report from the University’s Board of Scrutiny in October, which said that Cambridge was giving “the impression that sustainability is no longer a priority for the University”.

All relevant parties have been contacted for comment.