Public Debate on: The UN Norms for Business – Process, Content and The Real Value

The UN Subcommission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights has approved last year the UN Norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights. Governments, business, Trade Unions and NGOs have expressed their views on these UN Norms for business. At the moment the Norms are on the agenda of the 2004 meeting of the Human Rights’ Commission from 15 March till 23 April. With this Public Debate on May 12th we want to raise awareness about the UN Norms, highlight the outcomes of the Human Rights’ Commission meeting and discuss the arguments of governments, NGOs, business, political parties and Trade Unions concerning this first set of international human rights norms that specifically address the responsibilities of business. ... lees meer

Vijf bedrijven in eindronde voor LNV MVO-stimuleringsprijs

Het ministerie van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit (LNV), LTO Nederland en de Nederlandse Voedingsmiddelen Industrie VAI reiken in 2004 voor de tweede keer de prijs ter stimulering van maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen (MVO) uit. De vijf genomineerden zijn nu bekend. De jury heeft meer dan 35 inzendingen beoordeeld. ... lees meer

SRI World Group Unveils OneReport , Revolutionizing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Process

SRI World Group, Inc., a leading provider of social investment and corporate responsibility information services, today announced the launch of OneReport (www.one-report.com). This new global electronic reporting network enables companies to more efficiently report their social, environmental, economic and corporate governance information to investors, the financial community and other stakeholders. Over 50 multi-national companies from around the world, including 22 Fortune 100 companies, participated in the development of OneReport. ... lees meer

Daadkracht is bij duurzaam ondernemen volkomen afwezig

(Gepubliceerd in Trouw op 17 april 2004). -Duurzame Daadkracht – Actieprogramma duurzame ontwikkeling’ heet de nota waarover vijf kamercommissies, vier ministers en één staatssecretaris op maandag 19 april de hele dag met elkaar in debat gaan. De uitkomsten van de wereldtop over duurzame ontwikkeling in 2002 in Johannesburg worden in deze nota vertaald in een internationale en een nationale strategie. ... lees meer

Oekom Rates Food and Beverages Industry Average in Sustainability Performance

The global food and beverages industry has merely average performance on social and environmental sustainability, according to the latest corporate responsibility industry report released by Oekom Research, a Munich-based sustainability rating firm. The 16 companies that qualified for comprehensive “Inside” Ratings (16 other companies with inadequate transparency or sustainability performance received more cursory “Outside” Ratings) earned an average grade of C, on a scale from A+ to D-. ... lees meer

GRI completes most intensive engagement since 2002 Guidelines development process

420 individiuals from across the globe contributed their voices to the recently concluded Structured Feedback Process (SFP). In an effort to gain feedback on many aspects of the 2002 Guidelines from a diverse array of stakeholders in all global regions GRI designed this SFP to include those organisations that report using the Guidelines and also those that use data from sustainability reports. ... lees meer

Shell: ouderwetse PR?

(Dit artikel van Eveline Lubbers is verschenen in Kleintje Muurkrant nr 390, 16 april 2004) De tegenvallende gas- en oliereserves veroorzaakten grote onrust onder de aandeelhouders. In enkele weken ging 10 miljard euro van de beurswaarde van Shell in rook op. Geheel in de geest van deze tijd -waar de aandelenkoers is gekoppeld aan reputatie en charisma- richt de kritiek zich op topman Phill Watts. Hij wist de publieke arena te mijden tot bij de presentatie van de kwartaalcijfers, en dacht daar weg te komen met een deemoedig excuus over de gemaakte fouten. Shell dreigt terug te vallen in de arrogante houding, die het concern decennia lang eigen was. ... lees meer

CSR activities generate higher performance – official

High performing businesses show a strong correlation between CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities and stronger performance in terms of productivity and profitability than other businesses, according to new analysis conducted by The Work Foundation and The Virtuous Circle. The report, Achieving High Performance: CSR at the Heart of Business, published on 25 March 2004, argues that there is now a sufficient weight of empirical evidence to indicate that building CSR activities into the heart of business strategy leads to higher productivity and profitability. ... lees meer

Three scoop awards for European sustainability reporting excellence

Three European firms today beat 26 other national Award winning organisations from 15 European countries when they received awards for excelling at reporting on the social and environmental impacts of their activities. Awards winners in the eighth year of the European Sustainability Reporting Awards (ESRA) were Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark) and Aalborg Portland A/S (Denmark). Slibverwerking Noord-Brabant (Netherlands) received a Commendation. ... lees meer

US not interested in CR and SRI says new report

U.S. businesses are lagging behind their counterparts in Europe, Australia and South Africa in taking seriously their corporate social responsibility or CSR, according to a new study released today by Echo Research, the global specialists in reputation audit and analysis. While, major U.S. multinationals still lead in philanthropy, they have a -blind spot” that misses the growing importance of CSR to socially responsible investing around the world, the study found. ... lees meer

Stimuleringsprijs Duurzaam Ondernemen Limburg 2004

Duurzaam ondernemen is lef hebben en vertrouwen in de toekomst. Wie duurzaam onderneemt, neemt maatschappelijke verantwoordelijkheid en investeert nú in later. De kunst is om bewust om te gaan met bedrijfsresultaten, zonder dat dit ten koste gaat van medewerkers en het milieu. Stichting Milieufederatie Limburg, de Kamer van Koophandel Zuid-Limburg en de Provincie Limburg belonen bedrijven die zoeken naar vormen van duurzaam ondernemen en moedigen overige bedrijven aan dit ook te doen. Het thema dit jaar is: Gedurfd duurzaam: ondernemen met visie. Te winnen: 5.000,- en een kunstwerk. En volop aandacht in de media, aldus Peter Thissen, een van de genomineerden van de Duurzaamheidsprijs in 2003. ... lees meer

Call for sustainability reports for benchmarking

SustainAbility, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and Standard & Poor’s, are calling for companies and organisations producing sustainability reports/websites to submit their latest report/website for the next Global Reporters international benchmark survey. ... lees meer