New advice for investors on what they should be requiring from
companies on CSR issues has been published by the Association of
Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA).
A collection of guidance reports, funded by the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, cover the
sectors of automobiles, banking, metals and mining, oil, gas and
petrochemicals, power, pulp, paper and timber, supply chain and
technology.
Rachel Kyte, the IFC’s environmental and social development director,
said: ‘Investors need a framework for assessing the growing and complex
environmental, social and governance issues that face companies in Asia
today. This report begins the process of creating such a framework.’
ASrIA observed that studies of environmental, social and governance
risks are hampered by limited disclosure, that government ownership and
control also play a part, and that globalization and market development
are showing up the trends in China and India.
It said environmental issues appear to dominate Asian investment, that
medium-term incentives for change are emerging individually rather than
systematically, that better governance is a key factor, and that
regulatory change is being driven to a large extent by rising public
expectations.
