-The Sustainability Metrics” the title of a new publication launched this week at the annual Assembly of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. Speaking at the launch, Robert Lowson, DEFRA’s director of environmental strategy, said, -We are very impressed and supportive of this initiative. The Sustainability Metrics is aimed at the process industry and means that engineers now have a quantifiable way of measuring the sustainability performance of their operating units.
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Alle gemeentebesturen van de grote steden hebben vandaag het Steeds Beter advies over maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen in de steden ontvangen. Samenleving & Bedrijf, hét landelijke bedrijvennetwerk voor maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen, doet met het advies een beroep op lokale bestuurders om ondernemers actief te ondersteunen als zij concrete projecten ontwikkelen die ten goede komen aan de samenleving.
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There is a growing gap between the efforts of business and industry to
reduce their impact on the environment and the worsening state of the planet, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reveals today.
This gap, says UNEP, is due to the fact that in most industry sectors, only a small number of companies are actively striving for sustainability, i.e. actively integrating social and environmental factors into business decisions. And, secondly, because improvements are being overtaken by economic growth and increasing demand for goods and services: a phenomenon known as the -rebound effect.”
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Morley Fund Management (Morley) today releases its first Sustainability Matrix. This Matrix ranks FTSE 100 companies according to social and environmental criteria and provides a new measure of business sustainability. These gradings:
. Encourage companies to improve their Social and Environmental Performance
. Protect and increase Shareholder Value by adding another tool for the analysis of companies
. For the first time provide clear and transparent analysis of companies’ social and environmental policies
. Encourage and stimulate debate and continue raising awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility
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“(Gepubliceerd in het NRC van 27 april 2002).
In Den Haag heerst de vervlakking, in de bestuurskamer het korte termijn-denken. Ondernemer/schrijver/natuurbeschermer Paul Fentener van Vlissingen, telg uit de schatrijke familie en voormalig topman van SHV, constateert de opkomst van een valse integriteit, die van de hebzucht.
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One major company states in its annual report that corporate citizenship is both “a moral responsibility and an economic necessity”. But what is the business case for and against increased corporate citizenship? This is the subject of a recent research paper entitled ‘The Business Case for Corporate Citizenship’ from Arthur D. Little’s Environment & Risk practice. The paper was commissioned by the World Economic Forum for their Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative.
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Eerder deze week waren zowel de algemene vergadering van aandeelhouders van Ahold als van Unilever. Opvallend werd er in de speeches van beide CEOÃ??s veel aandacht besteed aan maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen.
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The International Chamber of Commerce today proposed practical steps for companies in making responsible business conduct a management priority – and said this could be good for business.
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All investors expect companies to report on their financial performance in a transparent way; so too do they expect transparent financial reporting from their mutual funds. Social investors are increasingly calling on companies they invest in to report on their social and environmental performance as well. Now, Norway-based Storebrand Investments is offering a mutual fund that reports on the social and environmental performance of the companies in its portfolio.
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(Gepubliceerd in Het Financieele Dagblad van 5 juli 2002).
Van ondernemingen wordt verantwoord gedrag geëist. Dat mogen we ook eisen van de groepen die kritisch zijn over globalisering, moderne biotechnologie en milieubeleid. Hun zorgen zijn ook de onze. De uitweg is het vinden van verantwoorde oplossingen, zegt Antony Burgmans
De aandacht die in toenemende mate wordt gegeven aan maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen doet bijna vermoeden dat tot voor kort ondernemingen konden doen wat ze wilden, zonder zich iets aan te trekken van hun omgeving. Niets is minder waar. Iedere onderneming die zich onverantwoord gedraagt, zal op kortere of langere termijn haar bestaansrecht verliezen. Feit is wel dat de aandacht is verschoven van de overheid naar het bedrijfsleven. Gebleken is dat het bedrijfsleven een belangrijke inhoudelijke bijdrage kan leveren om de gewenste ontwikkelingen te sturen. De pressiegroepen en ook de politiek zelf redeneerden dat uit angst voor verlies van aandeelhouderswaarde de bedrijven wel zou toegeven aan de eisen.
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The UK’s major “ethical” investing index is being accused of watering down green standards by including “unethical” companies.
The FTSE4Good family of indices were launched in a blaze of publicity nine months ago to encourage investment in companies with good records of corporate social responsibility.
Two companies, Close Fund Management and Direct Line, have since set up tracker funds to shadow the UK version of the FTSE4Good index.
Close tells its investors that FTSE4Good has created a “universe of socially responsible stocks”.
But the New Economic Foundation (NEF), a think tank, says the UK index includes companies with “poor ethical and environmental reputations”.
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By Amanda Paulson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
“Sustainability” is a big buzz word these days – for environmental groups, activists, government officials. And now, corporations.
More large companies, from auto giants to airlines, are producing “sustainability reports” in addition to – or as part of – their traditional annual reports. In them, they provide a detailed accounting of the firm’s environmental and social performance. McDonald’s released its first such report last week, and Shell came out with its fifth report a week earlier.
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