Conservation Champion

5 Minutes with....

May 2, 2008

The former head of The Home Depot’s community affairs is now committed to conserving the planet, people and wildlife

Atlanta Woman: What is the WWF?
Suzanne Apple: WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund) is the world’s largest conservation organization, with offices in 40 countries and conservation projects in over 100 countries.

AW: How does it decide what projects or causes to champion?
Apple: WWF is a science-based organization committed to preserving the planet for people and wildlife. In the late 1990s, WWF scientists developed the Global 200, a scientific ranking of over 200 of the most critical terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats. At WWF US, we focus our work on conserving 19 of those unique places, which include the world’s largest and most intact tropical rain forests, the most diverse freshwater systems, the most varied coral reefs, the most biologically diverse deserts and the most productive fishing grounds. To learn more about the Global 200, visit www.wwf.org.

AW: The WWF’s current campaigns run the gamut from stopping drilling in Bristol Bay, Alaska, to stopping the importing of illegal wood. Once a campaign has been selected, how does WWF achieve its goal – politics, public relations?
Apple: WWF is a solutions-based organization that engages policymakers, corporate partners, communities, other nongovernmental organizations and the general public in solving the challenges we face as a planet.
In order to protect these places, we address the global forces that are threatening them. In doing so, we look at the market forces at work. For example, if the Sumatran tiger and elephant are endangered because ofthe degradation of their habitat, what is causing that degradation? In this case, it is caused primarily by illegal logging on the island of Sumatra. Who is creating a market for these illegal logs? Do they know they are illegal? This is where WWF can play a role. We track the trade between the forests of Sumatra and the buyers of wood and wood products. Then, by working with the buyers to set purchasing policies that require only legal wood, we discourage the illegal logging by eliminating its market.

AW: As vice president and managing director, business and industry, what is the most rewarding part of your job? The most frustrating?
Apple: What is the most rewarding part? The most rewarding part is that I feel I am using my 20 years of experience in the private sector to facilitate business engagement on key issues and challenges that we face
on our planet today. The most frustrating? With each day, another forest is destroyed, another river is polluted, another sea is overfished. There is so much to be done to correct these cycles.

AW: How did WWF and The Coca-Cola Co. come together over the
use of water?
Apple: The WWF partnership with The Coca-Cola Co. is one of the most exciting partnerships we have ever done at WWF. It is truly a transformational partnership. It is transforming the way that environmental organizations work with businesses and the way a company thinks about its business practices, and brings our unique resources together to preserve one of the most precious commodities we have on this planet: water. As most things like this, it started with a small group of people from each organization and a vision to do something together that we could not accomplish alone. It has been
and continues to be an amazing journey.

AW: Major public corporations sometimes are accused of putting shareholder value and product over the environment. How can an organization like WWF work with corporations to see the bigger
picture and do the right thing?
Apple: Well, you cannot pick up a popular magazine today without finding an article on the environment! Whether it is climate change, water shortages, coastal destruction or pollution, we face these challenges everywhere we turn. And it helps when oil costs $100 a barrel. People think differently about how they use it. Same with water. When there is a drought, people focus on how they do (and don’t) use water. Companies today are faced with the same challenges. It costs more to do less. Increased competition for natural resources (especially from places like China), rising transportation costs due to increases in the price of oil, the calls for transparency from shareholder groups … all of these are driving companies to look at how they use raw materials. Where does it come from? Will I still be able to get it at a competitive price? Is there a more efficient way to transport it? To use it? To reuse it? At WWF, we work with businesses to help them better understand their environmental footprint. Where are they at risk, and how can they minimize that risk? We identify key areas for collaboration where we can add value and develop a plan together. We believe that working with big and small business can be mutually beneficial for the business, for WWF and for the environment.

AW: How did you get involved with WWF?
Apple: I first worked with WWF when I was at The Home Depot. WWF was one of the environmental organizations we consulted before developing our wood purchasing policy in 1999.

AW: You were with The Home Depot for a number of years. What were your duties there, and what were your proudest
accomplishments?
Apple: I was vice president of community affairs and environmental programs at The Home Depot until 2002. In that role, I helped lead our work in communities across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and, at the time, Chile and Argentina. In addition, I worked closely with our environmental council to develop and implement environmental programs and policies across the business. One of my proudest achievements was the
establishment of Team Depot, the employee volunteer program at The Home Depot that still thrives today. A second one was the announcement in 1999 of the first wood purchasing policy by a
major retail company in North America. After The Home Depot announced its policy, most of the other home improvement retailers and a number of large home builders announced similar policies. The Home Depot was really a leader on this issue.

AW: How did your work at The Home Depot experience translate into your current duties at WWF?
Apple: Interesting question. At The Home Depot, I helped develop a strategy for community involvement and for our environmental policies and practices and worked with others to
implement it. I am doing much the same thing at WWF. I have to understand the priorities at WWF, so that when I am working with a potential corporate partner, I can find the intersection between our priorities and the priorities of the business. Then, by working with the WWF team and the company team, we can develop a strategy that helps achieve those priorities in a mutually beneficial way.

AW: What is the number one priority on your WWF agenda
this year?
Apple: Forging partnerships with companies that want to be leaders in their industry while demonstrating that business success and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.