The November 2002 update Global Reporting Initiative with:
* FINAL Call for Nominations for Stakeholder Council
* First Two Pilot Sector Supplements Released
* Review of Sustainability Reporting Costs
* Wanted: Your Issues and Perspectives
* Briefing in South Africa
* Mark Your Calendars – 3rd International GRI Symposium
* More Organisations Use the Guidelines
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Key social performance indicators for financial institutions are set out in recommendations published today.
Working within a project called SPI-Finance 2002, international banks, insurance companies, and other stakeholders have identified indicators for use in public reporting that are unique to explaining the social performance of financial institutions. The indicators supplement a broader set of sustainability indicators set out in guidelines developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
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-The implementation of CSR practices has to remain voluntary, because translating the concept of CSR into a compulsory framework would constitute an additional administrative burden for SMEs” Hans Werner Mueller, UEAPME’s Secretary General, said at today’s opening session of the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR.
UEAPME also criticises the current interpretation of CSR in the European discussion. The concept overlooks a major part of SMEs community involvement as it only takes the enterprises’ visible activities into account. However, a majority of SMEs have taken up their social responsibilities in less visible areas – notably in the field of professional training – a long time ago. According to the SME Observatory, more than 50% of SMEs are already committed in different ways to community oriented activities. Therefore, introducing compulsory measures would be counterproductive, as it would only make SMEs administrative tasks more difficult and ultimately increase market entry costs.
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– Companies struggle to breach the -glass ceiling’ of transparency and accountability
– Reports are getting bigger-but not better
As trust in capitalism and multinational corporations hits new lows, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability reporting potentially offers real opportunities for companies to rebuild that trust.
This is one of the conclusions from the latest report by SustainAbility and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Trust Us: The 2002 Global Reporters Survey of Corporate Sustainability Reporting.
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In an effort to enhance public disclosure of environmental and social
performance, CERES and the Tellus Institute announced today the launch of
the FACILITY REPORTING PROJECT (FRP).
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Chairman Jaap Winter of the High Level Group of Company
Law Experts today presented the Final Report of the Group on a Modern Regulatory
Framework for Company Law in Europe to EU Commissioner Frits Bolkestein.
After the Group had delivered its Report on Issues Related to Takeover Bids in January 2002, it
has turned to its original mandate to provide recommendations for a modern regulatory
European company law framework. This mandate was extended by the Commission following
the ECOFIN Council meeting in Oviedo on April 12 and 13, 2002, to review specifically a
number of issues related to corporate governance: the role of non-executive and supervisory
directors, management remuneration, the responsibility of management for financial statements,
and auditing practices. These and other corporate governance issues form a major part of the
Final Report. The Final Report also addresses a number of company law subjects, such as capital
formation and maintenance rules, group and pyramid structures, corporate restructuring and
mobility, the European Private Company and other European legal forms of enterprise, as well
as certain general themes for future development of company law in Europe. The Group has
identified what it believes to be the priorities for the EU on the short, medium and longer term
and advises the Commission to set up an EU company law action plan.
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The UK Parliament’s House of Commons is currently discussing a new bill, titled Corporate Responsibility (Environmental, Social and Financial Reporting), or “CORE Bill”. The Bill, introduced by MP Linda Perham, is backed by organisations including Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and UNISON, the trade union representing people who work in public services. The second reading of the bill has been scheduled for 14 November.
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With losses due to UMTS licence costs, mass redundancies and falling market prices, many financial analysts are advising selling shares in telecommunications companies. Can the sector manage to overcome the sharp financial downturn and at the same time meet its social and environmental responsibilities? oekom research recently conducted a Corporate Responsibility Rating in which it examined 38 of the world’s major telecommunications companies. On a scale from A+ to D-, Deutsche Telekom scored a B+, followed by British Telecom and Swisscom, both with a B. At the bottom of the ranking came the American company Nextel with a score of D. Insufficient activity in the environmental and social areas meant that 14 of the companies could not be evaluated.
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The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants CIMA launched the publication, Environmental Accounting: An Introduction and Practical Guide, to an invited audience of finance directors and other senior financial personnel from the FTSE 100, professional accounting bodies and beyond.
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Conscientious consumers who want to make sure the companies they support share their social values can turn to a new website that rates several big corporations on issues.
Dan Porter, of Portland, Maine, launched www.idealswork.com six months ago. It ranks companies on such issues as whether they treat women fairly or if they support nuclear arms.
Porter, 48, gathers the information from a Washington, D.C.-based firm, Investor Responsibility Research Center. His system allows users to rank companies on issues that are important to them.
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Besides eliciting abundant media coverage, the corporate governance scandals at Enron, WorldCom, and elsewhere have spurred mainstream investors to evaluate the corporate governance performance of their current and prospective investments. Mainstream investors are joining with socially responsible investors in the understanding that corporate governance is a potential correlate of stock valuation. In response to the increase in demand for corporate governance evaluations, some mainstream investment research firms are now developing corporate governance rating services. Mainstream firms are also incorporating corporate governance into their existing rating systems.
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Speech by Agnes van Ardenne (Dutch minister for Development Cooperation) at the International Small Business Congress, Amsterdam, 28 October 2002.
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