1
00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,096
Twenty years ago,

2
00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,056
when I was a barrister
and human rights lawyer

3
00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,055
in full-time legal practice in London,

4
00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:10,256
and the highest court in the land

5
00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,696
still convened, some would say
by an accident of history,

6
00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,040
in this building here,

7
00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,896
I met a young man
who had just quit his job

8
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:21,349
in the British Foreign Office.

9
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,216
When I asked him, "Why did you leave,"

10
00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:25,440
he told me this story.

11
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:29,216
He had gone to his boss
one morning and said,

12
00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,360
"Let's do something
about human rights abuses in China."

13
00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,176
And his boss had replied,

14
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,896
"We can't do anything
about human rights abuses in China

15
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,520
because we have
trade relations with China."

16
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,256
So my friend went away
with his tail between his legs,

17
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,440
and six months later,
he returned again to his boss,

18
00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:50,856
and he said this time,

19
00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,376
"Let's do something
about human rights in Burma,"

20
00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:55,600
as it was then called.

21
00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,536
His boss once again paused

22
00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,576
and said, "Oh, but we can't
do anything about human rights in Burma

23
00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,256
because we don't have
any trade relations with Burma."

24
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:07,936
(Laughter)

25
00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:10,056
This was the moment
he knew he had to leave.

26
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,440
It wasn't just the hypocrisy
that got to him.

27
00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,416
It was the unwillingness of his government

28
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,056
to engage in conflict
with other governments,

29
00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:20,856
in tense discussions,

30
00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,680
all the while, innocent people
were being harmed.

31
00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,136
We are constantly told

32
00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,240
that conflict is bad

33
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,960
that compromise is good;

34
00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:35,296
that conflict is bad

35
00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:37,440
but consensus is good;

36
00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,336
that conflict is bad

37
00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,920
and collaboration is good.

38
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:45,336
But in my view,

39
00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,736
that's far too simple
a vision of the world.

40
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,656
We cannot know

41
00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,736
whether conflict is bad

42
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:54,576
unless we know who is fighting,

43
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,736
why they are fighting

44
00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:58,616
and how they are fighting.

45
00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,096
And compromises can be thoroughly rotten

46
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,800
if they harm people
who are not at the table,

47
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,015
people who are vulnerable, disempowered,

48
00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:11,320
people whom we have
an obligation to protect.

49
00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,536
Now, you might be
somewhat skeptical of a lawyer

50
00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,736
arguing about the benefits of conflict

51
00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,376
and creating problems for compromise,

52
00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:23,216
but I did also qualify as a mediator,

53
00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,520
and these days, I spend my time
giving talks about ethics for free.

54
00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,240
So as my bank manager likes to remind me,
I'm downwardly mobile.

55
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,296
But if you accept my argument,

56
00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,496
it should change not just the way
we lead our personal lives,

57
00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:40,840
which I wish to put
to one side for the moment,

58
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:45,376
but it will change the way
we think about major problems

59
00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,160
of public health and the environment.

60
00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:50,640
Let me explain.

61
00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:54,736
Every middle schooler
in the United States,

62
00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,416
my 12-year-old daughter included,

63
00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,296
learns that there are
three branches of government,

64
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,160
the legislative, the executive
and the judicial branch.

65
00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:07,256
James Madison wrote,

66
00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:12,296
"If there is any principle
more sacred in our Constitution,

67
00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,056
and indeed in any free constitution,

68
00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,576
than any other,

69
00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,096
it is that which separates

70
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,240
the legislative, the executive
and the judicial powers."

71
00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,336
Now, the framers were not just concerned

72
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,456
about the concentration
and exercise of power.

73
00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,480
They also understood
the perils of influence.

74
00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:41,536
Judges cannot determine
the constitutionality of laws

75
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,336
if they participate in making those laws,

76
00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,296
nor can they hold the other branches
of government accountable

77
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,256
if they collaborate with them

78
00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:54,440
or enter into close
relationships with them.

79
00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,376
The Constitution is,
as one famous scholar put it,

80
00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,640
"an invitation to struggle."

81
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:05,016
And we the people are served

82
00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,440
when those branches do, indeed,
struggle with each other.

83
00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,856
Now, we recognize
the importance of struggle

84
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,776
not just in the public sector

85
00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,176
between our branches of government.

86
00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,536
We also know it too in the private sector,

87
00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,160
in relationships among corporations.

88
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,376
Let's imagine that two American airlines
get together and agree

89
00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:34,576
that they will not drop the price

90
00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,960
of their economy class airfares
below 250 dollars a ticket.

91
00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,456
That is collaboration,
some would say collusion,

92
00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:44,816
not competition,

93
00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:47,656
and we the people are harmed

94
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:49,520
because we pay more for our tickets.

95
00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:53,096
Imagine similarly
two airlines were to say,

96
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:58,136
"Look, Airline A, we'll take
the route from LA to Chicago,"

97
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,336
and Airline B says, "We'll take
the route from Chicago to DC,

98
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:02,816
and we won't compete."

99
00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:07,456
Once again, that's collaboration
or collusion instead of competition,

100
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,200
and we the people are harmed.

101
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:17,336
So we understand
the importance of struggle

102
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,600
when it comes to relationships
between branches of government,

103
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:24,776
the public sector.

104
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,216
We also understand
the importance of conflict

105
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,576
when it comes to relationships
among corporations,

106
00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,256
the private sector.

107
00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,856
But where we have forgotten it

108
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,296
is in the relationships
between the public and the private.

109
00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:45,016
And governments all over the world
are collaborating with industry

110
00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,816
to solve problems of public health
and the environment,

111
00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:51,816
often collaborating
with the very corporations

112
00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:57,680
that are creating or exacerbating
the problems they are trying to solve.

113
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,656
We are told that these relationships

114
00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:04,360
are a win-win.

115
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,520
But what if someone is losing out?

116
00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,600
Let me give you some examples.

117
00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:17,336
A United Nations agency
decided to address a serious problem:

118
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,960
poor sanitation in schools in rural India.

119
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:26,256
They did so not just in collaboration
with national and local governments

120
00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:28,776
but also with a television company

121
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,640
and with a major
multinational soda company.

122
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,776
In exchange for less
than one million dollars,

123
00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,176
that corporation received the benefits
of a months-long promotional campaign

124
00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,376
including a 12-hour telethon

125
00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,600
all using the company's logo
and color scheme.

126
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:49,560
This was an arrangement

127
00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,016
which was totally understandable

128
00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:54,976
from the corporation's point of view.

129
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,536
It enhances the reputation of the company

130
00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,080
and it creates brand loyalty
for its products.

131
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:02,976
But in my view,

132
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,696
this is profoundly problematic
for the intergovernmental agency,

133
00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,880
an agency that has a mission
to promote sustainable living.

134
00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,016
By increasing consumption
of sugar-sweetened beverages

135
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,336
made from scarce local water supplies
and drunk out of plastic bottles

136
00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,376
in a country that is already
grappling with obesity,

137
00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,816
this is neither sustainable
from a public health

138
00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,736
nor an environmental point of view.

139
00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,096
And in order to solve
one public health problem,

140
00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:34,416
the agency is sowing the seeds

141
00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:35,640
of another.

142
00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,776
This is just one example
of dozens I discovered

143
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:46,896
in researching a book on the relationships
between government and industry.

144
00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,696
I could also have told you
about the initiatives in parks

145
00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:52,336
in London and throughout Britain,

146
00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,760
involving the same company,
promoting exercise,

147
00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:00,416
or indeed of the British government
creating voluntary pledges

148
00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,616
in partnership with industry

149
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,376
instead of regulating industry.

150
00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:11,056
These collaborations or partnerships
have become the paradigm in public health,

151
00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:15,136
and once again, they make sense
from the point of view of industry.

152
00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,776
It allows them to frame
public health problems and their solutions

153
00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:20,936
in ways that are least threatening to,

154
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,816
most consonant with
their commercial interests.

155
00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,416
So obesity becomes a problem

156
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,696
of individual decision-making,

157
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,775
of personal behavior,

158
00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,976
personal responsibility
and lack of physical activity.

159
00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,096
It is not a problem,

160
00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:39,535
when framed this way,

161
00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,176
of a multinational food system
involving major corporations.

162
00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,856
And again, I don't blame industry.

163
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,296
Industry naturally engages
in strategies of influence

164
00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,800
to promote its commercial interests.

165
00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,816
But governments have a responsibility

166
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:56,896
to develop counterstrategies

167
00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:58,736
to protect us

168
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,440
and the common good.

169
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,720
The mistake that governments are making

170
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,056
when they collaborate in this way

171
00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,416
with industry

172
00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,016
is that they conflate

173
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,856
the common good

174
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,080
with common ground.

175
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,856
When you collaborate with industry,

176
00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,696
you necessarily put off the table

177
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,296
things that might promote the common good
to which industry will not agree.

178
00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,096
Industry will not agree
to increased regulation

179
00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,296
unless it believes this will
stave off even more regulation

180
00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,560
or perhaps knock some competitors
out of the market.

181
00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,256
Nor can companies agree
to do certain things,

182
00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,256
for example raise the prices
of their unhealthy products,

183
00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,416
because that would violate
competition law,

184
00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:46,640
as we've established.

185
00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:51,776
So our governments should not confound

186
00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,256
the common good and common ground,

187
00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,520
especially when common ground
means reaching agreement with industry.

188
00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:02,216
I want to give you another example,

189
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,376
moving from high-profile collaboration

190
00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,896
to something that is below ground

191
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,176
both literally and figuratively:

192
00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,800
the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas.

193
00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,016
Imagine that you purchase a plot of land

194
00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,256
not knowing the mineral rights
have been sold.

195
00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:21,080
This is before the fracking boom.

196
00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,376
You build your dream home on that plot,

197
00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:27,016
and shortly afterwards,

198
00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:32,440
you discover that a gas company
is building a well pad on your land.

199
00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,440
That was the plight
of the Hallowich family.

200
00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,016
Within a very short period of time,

201
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:43,256
they began to complain of headaches,

202
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,496
of sore throats, of itchy eyes,

203
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,336
in addition to the interference
of the noise, vibration

204
00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,496
and the bright lights
from the flaring of natural gas.

205
00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,840
They were very vocal in their criticisms,

206
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:57,320
and then they fell silent.

207
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,656
And thanks to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
where this image appeared,

208
00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:04,536
and one other newspaper,
we discovered why they fell silent.

209
00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,256
The newspapers went to the court and said,
"What happened to the Hallowiches?"

210
00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,656
And it turned out the Hallowiches
had made a secret settlement

211
00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:15,576
with the gas operators, and it was
a take-it-or-leave-it settlement.

212
00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:16,856
The gas company said,

213
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,296
you can have a six-figure sum

214
00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,456
to move elsewhere
and start your lives again,

215
00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:22,696
but in return

216
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,576
you must promise not to speak
of your experience with our company,

217
00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,176
not to speak of your
experience with fracking,

218
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,920
not to speak about the health consequences

219
00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:36,600
that might have been revealed
by a medical examination.

220
00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,536
Now, I do not blame
the Hallowiches for accepting

221
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,376
a take-it-or-leave-it settlement

222
00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,616
and starting their lives elsewhere.

223
00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:46,856
And one can understand

224
00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,856
why the company would wish
to silence a squeaky wheel.

225
00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,656
What I want to point the finger at
is the legal and regulatory system,

226
00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:56,136
a system in which there are
networks of agreements

227
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,056
just like this one

228
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,640
which serve to silence people
and seal off data points

229
00:12:02,560 --> 00:12:05,216
from public health experts
and epidemiologists,

230
00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:06,856
a system in which regulators

231
00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,016
will even refrain
from issuing a violation notice

232
00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:11,416
in the event of pollution

233
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,576
if the landowner and the gas company

234
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,176
agree to settle.

235
00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:19,136
This is a system which isn't just
bad from a public health point of view;

236
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,456
it exposes hazards to local families

237
00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,680
who remain in the dark.

238
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:31,696
Now, I have given you two examples
not because they are isolated examples.

239
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,216
They are examples of a systemic problem.

240
00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,616
I could share some counterexamples,

241
00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:39,616
the case for example
of the public official

242
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,736
who sues the pharmaceutical company

243
00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:44,376
for concealing the fact

244
00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:50,976
that its antidepressant increases
suicidal thoughts in adolescents.

245
00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,896
I can tell you about the regulator
who went after the food company

246
00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,656
for exaggerating the purported
health benefits of its yogurt.

247
00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:02,136
And I can tell you about the legislator

248
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,456
who despite heavy lobbying
directed at both sides of the aisle

249
00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:10,400
pushes for environmental protections.

250
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,896
These are isolated examples,

251
00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:17,096
but they are beacons of light
in the darkness,

252
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,800
and they can show us the way.

253
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:26,280
I began by suggesting that sometimes
we need to engage in conflict.

254
00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:31,016
Governments should tussle with,

255
00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:36,840
struggle with, at times engage
in direct conflict with corporations.

256
00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:42,216
This is not because governments
are inherently good

257
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,496
and corporations are inherently evil.

258
00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,520
Each is capable of good or ill.

259
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:54,160
But corporations understandably
act to promote their commercial interests,

260
00:13:55,080 --> 00:14:01,136
and they do so either sometimes
undermining or promoting the common good.

261
00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,136
But it is the responsibility
of governments

262
00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,376
to protect and promote the common good.

263
00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,096
And we should insist

264
00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:13,520
that they fight to do so.

265
00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,296
This is because governments

266
00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:18,720
are the guardians

267
00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:20,800
of public health;

268
00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,656
governments are the guardians

269
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,536
of the environment;

270
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,376
and it is governments

271
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:29,696
that are guardians

272
00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:35,080
of these essential parts
of our common good.

273
00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:36,896
Thank you.

274
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:43,148
(Applause)