2 - ICIMOD compromises its name and fame promoting Skoda Cars

There are some suspicions emerging over a partnership agreement made by Kathmandu based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) with MAW Nepal - Official Agent of the Czech car-maker Skoda early this year. According to the partnership ICIMOD receives USD 15,000 equivalent (fifteen thousands dollars) from the automobile company to complement its ongoing research. But other side of the coin looks even more interesting:

• ICIMOD is one of most resourceful environmental organization in the Himalayan region with annual budget of approximately USD 20,000,000 (twenty millions dollars) for the year 2013. So, why ICIMOD needed a tiny USD 15,000 contribution from an automobile company to complement its ongoing research? This amount would hardly be equivalent to salary of the project coordinator for 3 months.ICIMOD already has profound financial resource received from donor and member countries, including Nepal and many bilateral or multilateral initiatives. So why it compromises its ethics for tiny USD 15,000?
• What qualifies a polluting automobile company to become first corporate partner of ICIMOD as Public Private Partnership initiative? There could be many other alternatives for good start with better impression, such as banks, and larger companies producing environmental goods and services or trekking companies and rural financing institutions to list a few. In the worst case ICIMOD cold have tried working with companies like REVA who produce electric cars. Most importantly, ICIMOD being a mountain institution it should have picked some mountain development relevant corporate houses for this pilot.
• Can it only be coincidence that out of over 200 staffs at ICIMOD, only two have Skoda Cars and those two are leading this partnership –Coordinator of the Atmosphere Initiative and PPP Officer at ICIMOD. Doesn’t it look fishy?
• All these suspicion looks real or very close to real seeing the promotion below in which ICIMOD is seen endorsing the polluting Skoda cars as environment friendly mobility option and cars are highlighted in the backdrop, which clearly shows Skoda’s sole intention is to market its Cars and ICIMOD is misused for this purpose. Sadly only ICIMOD logo is readable not the texts associated with it.

We leave it up to the readers to make conclusion. Are these kinds of partnerships going to help mountain people in the Himalayas? Or the corporatization of reputed environment organization will further jeopardize environmental issues in the region? Was it needed and wise for ICIMOD to partner with Skoda from any angle? What do you find more in this partnership – CSR or misuse of environmental organization’s name and reputation for exclusive benefit of a polluting automobile company?