(Gepubliceerd in het NRC van 10 oktober 2001).
Ruim 120 ondernemers, lobbyisten en enkele vertegenwoordigers van de Verenigde Naties moesten zich gisterochtend tussen een groep van circa veertig actievoerders doorwringen voordat zij in Parijs het hoofdkwartier bereikten van de Internationale Kamer van Koophandel.
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An update from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the guidelines for sustainability reporting.
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For the first time, judges also give Honorable Mention to a paper that provides compelling evidence of no significant cost for actively managed screened portfolios.
Multinationals employing the lowest environmental standards possible in their overseas operations would be considered a bad investment by social investors. Those investors would be right on the money, say the winners of this year’s Moskowitz Prize, the social investment industry’s prestigious award for outstanding research in the field of socially responsible investing.
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A group of large Nordic companies are participating in an unusual partnership to create their view of a future sustainable company.
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The Business Case for Sustainable Development: Making a Difference Towards the Johannesburg Summit 2002 and Beyond is the latest report of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
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Op 4 oktober werd voor de derde keer in successie een seminar georganiseerd over duurzaamheidsverslaggeving door adviesburo DHV, SNS Asset Management en de VBDO. Dit keer stonden niet de richtlijnen van het Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) centraal maar de praktijk van duurzaamheidsverslaggeving. Het publiek (circa 100 aanwezigen) bestond dan ook overwegend uit betrokkenen van (grotere) ondernemingen zoals managers communicatie, investor relations, milieu e.d.
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De maatschappij verwacht veel van ondernemingen. Ondernemers zijn zich daar steeds meer van bewust en willen daaraan ook, voor zover dat op hun weg ligt, tegemoet komen. In het belang van hun bedrijf én de maatschappij. Dat staat in het voorwoord van Maatschappelijk ondernemen, een handreiking, een gemeenschappelijke publicatie van de Vereniging NCW, Centrum voor maatschappij betrokken management van de Vereniging VNO-NCW, en de Algemene Werkgeversvereniging VNO-NCW. Op 21 september bood NCW-voorzitter mr. Jacques Schraven – samen met AWVN-voorzitter Bernard Wientjes – het eerste exemplaar aan aan dr. Herman Wijffels, voorzitter van de Sociaal Economisch Raad.
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World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn appealed to business leaders to further expand their notions of corporate responsibility beyond earnings to encompass obligations to society at large, especially in developing countries.
Corporate sustainability today includes recognition of the leadership role that the private sector must take in ensuring social progress, improved equity, higher living standards, and stewardship for the environment, Wolfensohn said yesterday in a World Bank-sponsored workshop. Corporate responsibility is not philanthropy-it is good business, he said.
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Listed companies that are leading the way with their environmental and social policies are selling themselves and their shareholders short by failing to make the case to the City, according to research published by Business in the Environment (BiE). When asked to name spontaneously the most important factors to take into account when judging companies, 13% of companies’ own investor relations managers (IRMs) deemed environmental and social issues important – but only 3% of analysts, 4% of institutional investors and 3% of financial journalists.
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Private initiatives for corporate responsibility have been a major development in international management over the last twenty years. The initiatives include issuance of codes of business conduct, implementation of management systems and broader efforts to improve business accountability. Yet, there is little agreement about what these initiatives mean or how effective they are.
The OECD project on corporate responsibility seeks to shed light on various aspects of the corporate responsibility movement: What are firms and business associations doing? How have governments influenced the initiatives? What contributions, if any, have these initiatives made to improving the business sector’s ability to comply with law and regulation and to respond to broader societal expectations?
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A conference organised by Business in the Environment (BiE), the business-led campaign for corporate environmental responsibility, on 2 October gave clear guidance to companies on how to -bridge the gap’ between investment in environmental and social responsibility, and the value attributed to this by shareholders. The conference followed research published in May which showed that although companies’ investor relations managers believed they were communicating effectively on these issues, investors did not agree.
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‘Maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen moet hoog op de agenda komen van de detailhandelaren.’ Dat zei Bert Kolkman, voorzitter van het Hoofdbedrijfschap Detailhandel (HBD) op het congres Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen in de Detailhandel. Om dit te stimuleren werd op het congres een praktijk- en een werkboek gepresenteerd waarmee ondernemers actief aan de slag kunnen.
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