Are global companies improving their environmental, social and governance performance? There is good reason to be optimistic, though there is much work to be done.
Some 93% of the world’s largest 250 companies now publish annual corporate responsibility reports, almost 60% of which are independently audited. That means companies from sectors as diverse as financial services, information technology and consumer goods to oil, gas and mining making billions of dollars of public commitments to help solve societal challenges.
Yet, the negative headlines persist, fuelled by reports of sweat-shops in low-income countries producing cheap goods for OECD markets, fatal tragedies such as the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh in 2013 and the Turkish mining disaster in 2014, and catastrophic environmental accidents. Moreover, the legacy of the global financial crisis, concerns about corporate tax practices and challenges such as youth unemployment and climate change have forced corporations to lift their sights further above the bottom line and to judge their performance against wider social goals. Economic growth must now be more inclusive and more sustainable. The onus is on firms to produce more jobs, products, services and infrastructure for more people, while putting more emphasis on decent work and fairness, and less strain on natural resources. .
It is in this context that the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has matured over the past decade. Progress has been driven by a combination of evolving global guidelines, increased stakeholder expectations and more demanding corporate disclosure requirements. Voluntary action by corporate leaders themselves has also played a role, both individually and collectively, to embed CSR into core business practices, account publicly for performance, and scale up impact. CSR has become as central to some businesses as, say, accounting or human resource management. Yet, this progress is happening at neither the speed nor scale needed to drive the type of systemic change that is required to address social and environmental challenges.
See full Article: http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/4369/Corporate_Social_Responsibility:_Emerging_good_practice_for_a_new_era.html
Posts
