Senior members of Britain¹s most well-known environmental pressure groups courted some of the most ecologically controversial corporations at a seminar entitled "Getting Engaged" last week, the Big Issue can reveal. Former Greenpeace chief Lord Melchett, now policy adviser to the Soil Association, was among a host of green groups meeting representatives of biotechnology, pharmaceutical, construction, and seed companies, including Monsanto, at the London Chamber of Commerce to look at solutions with business leaders.

But the conference which would have been unheard of a few years ago, was by cold shouldered by grassroots greens, like Reclaim the Streets, who declined invitations to take part.

"Working with business is as important to us as munching bamboo is for a panda", said Paul King, Head Of Business and Consumption Policy at WWF- UK, adding that that the non-governmental organisation was unashamed about taking money off business, which totals about £1 million a year.

Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK from January 1989 to December 2000, said the group had to focus more on business than politicians because, "there had been a shift in power from politics to business", which had "been asked for by business and given by politicians".

But Andrea Spencer-Cooke, former editor of the green business magazine "Tomorrow", warned that they might start suffering from "strategic schizophrenia," as to whether they saw environmentally destructive and polluting businesses as friends or foe.

"There could be a future", warned Francis Sullivan from WWF, "where a number of NGOs get too close to business and could be seen to be out of touch with the public."

Simon McCrae from Friends of the Earth said that engaging with business was still a "contentious issue" at the organisation. He said that FoE local groups were extremely "sensitive" about a proposed partnership between FoE and a leading renewable energy company. "To manage relationships with business that have the same values is not easy," he said.

Anthony Sampson, the Director of Environmental Management at insurance giant CGNU, admitted that "a decade ago the feeling within the insurance industry to environmental problems was 'go away and leave me alone'". He said businesses had been "very wary of NGOs".

Now because of issues such as climate change, there was a growing need to take action because "we don't have another planet to go and do insurance on."