Re-Thinking Social Responsibility

Chucking a few dollars at the pet charity of the chairman’s wife no longer cuts it as corporate philanthropy, if it ever did. Nor does using corporate philanthropy as PR or window dressing to mollify critics, or even roping off a slice of profits to be dispensed for good works. ... lees meer

Carbon Disclosure Project working with corporate giants to assess CO2 emissions and climate disclosure from supply chains in 2008

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of over 315 institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Allianz and HSBC, with assets under management of more than $41 trillion, is now working with some of the world’s largest companies to help them assess greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through their supply chains. ... lees meer

How good should your business be?

Corporate social responsibility has great momentum. All the more reason to be aware of its limits How wonderful to think that you can make money and save the planet at the same time. “Doing well by doing good” has become a popular business mantra: the phrase conjures up a Panglossian best-of-all-possible-worlds, the idea that firms can be successful by acting in the broader interests of society as a whole even while they satisfy the narrow interests of shareholders. The noble sentiment will no doubt echo around the Swiss Alps next week as chief executives hobnob with political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. ... lees meer

Emerging Market Companies Win by Using Innovative Strategies for Sustainable Business

What do an egg producer in China, a plastic pipe manufacturer in Brazil, and a chemical producer in India have in common? These companies each gained a competitive advantage by developing business strategies to become environmentally and socially responsible. In a new report, entitled “Market Movers: Lessons from a Frontier of Innovation,” IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and SustainAbility tell the stories of four emerging market companies that have pioneered new sustainable business strategies. ... lees meer

New Report Links Leader Mindset Development and Corporate Sustainability Success

new study examines the progress of ten global corporations against a comparative five-stage sustainability framework and suggests a direct correlation between leader mindsets and sustainability success. Many companies are missing a critical step in their sustainability journey, according to the Avastone Corporate Sustainability Study (ACSS). The ACSS reveals that it is not a lack of tangible systems and activities that comprise the missing component, but rather a scarcity of higher-capacity leaders. ... lees meer

Second round of the GRI Readers Choice Awards starts on 1 January 2008

Nearly 800 sustainability reports are currently in the running for the inaugural GRI Readers Choice Awards. On December 31st the field of eligible reports will be reduced to a short-list based on reports with: . the highest volume of scores received (not highest scores!) . the widest diversity of scorers (employees, media, civil society, investors, management and governance, etc) ... lees meer

Urgent need to promote more standardised corporate reporting on climate change

Dutch Sustainability Research (DSR) and Respect published findings of a benchmarking study on climate change best practice. The research indicates that corporations are taking part in numerous interesting and innovative climate change related initiatives. However, overall climate change disclosure remains patchy and inconsistent and it therefore remains difficult to determine real leadership. ... lees meer

BASF best in class in online sustainability communications

BASF’s corporate website – www.basf.com – is the most complete and web savvy in the field of online sustainability communications. Jungle Rating – a Dutch internet consultancy – concludes this after having investigated all sustainability websites of the European sustainability leaders, listed on the DJSI STOXX index. The short list of the top 53 companies has been announced today. ... lees meer

50 Ways to Green Your Business

Half-a-hundred options for cleaning up your business, from the universal (catch that rainwater!) to the specific (lose the plastic bowls!). Mix, match–join in. Imagine asking today how the Internet affects business. It’s an absurd question, like asking how electricity changed business. Asking the same about sustainability, it turns out, is equally absurd. Like the Internet, sustainability spurs innovation in everything, from how you see your business model to whether you see your employees (why not let them work at home more?). Here are our favorite ways companies today are greening up–and saving money and making better widgets in the process. ... lees meer

Consumers Demand Companies Walk Their Green Talk

Companies who have jumped on the “green” bandwagon have to support their green marketing by improved transparency and verifiable environmental and sustainable products, according to the newly released “BBMG Conscious Consumer Report.” BBMG, a marketing agency that specializes in working with socially minded organizations, found that consumers are becoming more conscious of the environmental and social impacts of the companies whose products they buy. ... lees meer

Being Socially Responsible Has a Positive Impact on Employees and several other

Research conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI), a division of Kenexa(R) , a leading provider of talent acquisition and retention solutions, evaluated workers’ perceptions of their organizations with regard to corporate social responsibility. The report is based on the analysis of data drawn from a representative sample of workers surveyed in 2007 through WorkTrends(TM), KRI’s annual survey of worker opinions. The survey included workers from Brazil, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. ... lees meer