SOCIETY

Community Development

Malaysia to get code of ethics

The Malaysian government will introduce a code of ethics and a performance appraisal system for contractors next year to prevent […]

TriplePundit

September 25, 2006

Community Development

Apple supplier cleared of human rights allegations

An independent investigation has discounted almost all allegations that human rights have been abused at Apple’s iPod factory in Longhua, […]

TriplePundit

September 25, 2006

Community Development

China cracks down on corporate bribery

Attempts are being made to stamp out corruption by businesses trying to bribe their way into China’s military procurement. Companies […]

TriplePundit

September 25, 2006

Community Development

Chinese labour standard 'needs to be brought in fast'

A senior trade unionist has called for an all-round labour contract system, which is being considered by the Chinese government, […]

TriplePundit

September 25, 2006

Community Development

IBLF head praises Indonesian progress on CSR

Indonesian businesses have been congratulated for their progress in introducing corporate responsibility policies by Robert Davies, chief executive of the […]

TriplePundit

September 25, 2006

Community Development

Firms deny 'unethical' hair sourcing

Companies that make and sell hair extensions and wigs have protested over allegations that the industry habitually uses unethically sourced […]

TriplePundit

September 8, 2006

Community Development

Clothes firms urged to act on Indian supplier ‘abuses’

An open appeal has been issued by watchdog organizations for an end to alleged labour rights violations at two garment […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Who’s Who guide is updated

The second edition of an Indian CSR guide lists the practices and policies of more than 50 organizations. The Who’s […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Standard Chartered targets call centres for Aids advice

Classroom-based Aids education is being directed at about 6000 call centre staff in Chennai, India, by Standard Chartered Bank. The […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Microsoft steps in to help Asia

Microsoft and the United Nations have teamed up to provide the technology to promote tourism in the emerging countries of […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Prosperous Group addresses workplace standards

The worker training programme of Social Accountability International (SAI) has been expanded to include the Prosperous Group, a 3000-employee sports […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Japan’s post office goes ethical

The Japanese post office network, which handles trillions of yen of ordinary investors’ savings, has started selling an ethical fund. […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Small Hong Kong firms ignorant of CSR

Only nine per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong have any awareness of CSR principles, reports CPA […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Asian groups want Norms to remain

A grouping of more than 20 Asian civil society groups has warned against the wholesale ditching of draft UN guidelines […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

GSK fights back on Aids claims

The pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), whose offices in Thailand and India have been targeted by demonstrations against its attempts to […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Mecu scoops sustainability reporting award

The Australian financial institution Mecu has taken first place for the best sustainability report in the 2005 Australia and New […]

TriplePundit

September 7, 2006

Community Development

Accountants seek new CSR assurance standard

Europe’s leading accountancy body has called for a specific international standard on the assurance of non-financial reports. The Federation of […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Responsible lending policy bears fruit

The ANZ banking group has reported that 11 per cent fewer customers had their credit card limits increased in the […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Fast food giant takes CSR into the blogosphere

McDonald’s has turned to internet ‘blogging’ to help it communicate its corporate responsibility messages. The global foodservice retailer has started […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Clothes chain throws its hat into the ethical trading ring

One of the UK’s largest high street clothes retailers, Primark, has shown an increased commitment to corporate responsibility by joining […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

US reporters beginning to make up for lost time

The largest publicly owned companies in the US have grown more willing to disclose details of their social and environmental […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

FTSE4Good index unveils criteria on climate change

FTSE4Good, the equity index provider, has outlined climate change measures that it will soon expect companies to adopt if they […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Business is missing CSR marketing trick

Too few companies with a solid track record of corporate responsibility use it as a marketing tool, says a new […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Coca-Cola bridles at exclusion from index

Coca-Cola has expressed surprise and disappointment at being dropped from one of the leading SRI indexes in the US. The […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Methodists soften stance on Nestlé

Methodists in Britain have backed a decision by their church’s ethical investment committee to end its long-standing ban on investing […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

M&S is top dog for second time as awards grow in scope

Marks & Spencer has become the first company to win the top accolade for a second time in Business in […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Building societies make progress

British building societies have dramatically increased their CSR activity over the past three years, a study has shown. A review […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

‘Equator 2’ raises the bar

Financial institutions have welcomed an update of the Equator Principles, ethical guidelines for lending on large-scale project finance. However, they […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

NGOs pledge to be more accountable

Eleven non-governmental organizations have decided to practice what they preach on responsible behaviour by creating a voluntary code of conduct […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

ICI sets latest five-year targets

Chemicals multinational ICI has laid out a five-year sustainability plan to run until 2010. The Sustainability Challenge, agreed by ICI’s […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

HP establishes IT centres to support small firms

Hewlett-Packard is to aid the growth of small businesses in deprived areas through a new Microenterprise Acceleration Programme (MAP) that […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Honesty and directness are key to media hearts

How best to communicate corporate responsibility initiatives to journalists has become a hot topic over the past year. EP offers […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Let’s not mire ourselves in definitional confusion

Should it be CSR or CR? It’s better to change behaviour than the phrases we use, says Sir Geoffrey Chandler […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Airing for social bank idea

British banks have given a non-committal response to a proposal that an independent Social Investment Bank be created to receive […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Wal-Mart makes ground on its bold CSR pledges

Wal-Mart appears to be making early progress on its promise to embrace corporate responsibility, despite scepticism from investors and pressure […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Pioneering firms explore human rights framework

A dozen international companies, including Barclays, Gap, Novartis and Statoil, have committed themselves to develop a ‘common framework’ on business […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

G3 guidelines get go-ahead

A final version of the Global Reporting Initiative’s sustainability reporting guidelines has been approved by its directors. The approval of […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Food firms agree soya deal

Five multinational food trading companies have decided to stop sourcing soya beans grown on newly deforested land in Brazil’s Amazon […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Wal-Mart has made a good start but there’s still a long way to go

Has the leopard changed its spots? Last autumn Wal-Mart announced a dramatic conversion to corporate social responsibility, following the positive […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Tax incentives ‘could help first-time social reporters’

Tax breaks encouraging companies to produce annual sustainability reports are to be considered by the Australian government after a recommendation […]

TriplePundit

September 6, 2006

Community Development

Procurement teams ‘need ethics codes’ to make progress

Companies should provide their procurement teams with ethical codes of practice that they can work by, the Institute of Business […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

ABB fights back on Sudan

ABB has hit back at investors and critics concerned at the multinational engineering group’s involvement in business operations in Sudan. […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Textile factory riots spur ETI into action

The Ethical Trading Initiative sent a delegation to Bangladesh last month to try to establish the ‘underlying causes’ of recent […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Timber policy to be compulsory

Adherence to a voluntary responsible purchasing policy in the timber sector is to become compulsory for members of one of […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Tougher factory audits reveal European failings

An upgraded ethical supply chain auditing process now in use by the clothing retailer H&M has uncovered more serious breaches […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

UK’s sixth CSR minister in as many years

Margaret Hodge has become the sixth minister in as many years to hold the corporate social responsibility portfolio in the […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Property developers band together to work with suppliers

UK property development and construction companies hope a pilot programme to reduce supply chain risk will shortly be taken up […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

LSE investor service is put on the backburner

Efforts by the London Stock Exchange to establish a central database of information on companies’ social and environmental performance look […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

HSBC takes sustainable banking award

HSBC has been named Sustainable Bank of the Year in a new awards programme recognizing financial institutions that have shown […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Shenzhen may ask firms for CSR certificate

Authorities in Shenzhen are considering the introduction of a CSR standard for local companies, after concluding that business practices in […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Accenture reorganizes its worldwide pro bono work

International management consultancy Accenture is to expand its pro bono activities. The company’s business units in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Stakeholder dialogue often fuels more demand

Talking to your stakeholders often fails to reduce their expectations and may actually increase them, a study has found. A […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

L’Oreal enlists hairdressers in fight against Aids

Cosmetics company L’Oreal has won acclaim for an initiative that trains employees to serve as HIV/Aids ‘educators’ in regions hard-hit […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

The London Stock Exchange must not let the CRE quietly fade away

When the Corporate Responsibility Exchange was launched by the London Stock Exchange in September 2004, it was said to be […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

ITV asks viewers to help shape its ethics strategy

Media company ITV is planning to introduce corporate responsibility questions into its future audience surveys as part of its wider […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Hours and pay are key non-compliance areas

Poor control over long working hours, inadequate pay levels and a lack of proper documentation have emerged as the main […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

SRI proponents warned of ‘push back’

Signs are emerging of a possible backlash against socially responsible investment in some quarters, according to a specialist in the […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

CEOs have accepted a new responsibility

Peter Erskine, who became chief executive of mobile phone company O2 in 2001, talks to EP about corporate responsibility as […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Centrica posts its principles

Centrica is to send a set of revised business principles to 10,000 of its suppliers by the end of the […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Asset managers ‘lack clarity’ on SRI strategy

A French state pension fund has complained that many of the asset management companies which recently bid for mandates to […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

GeSI project makes strides

An initiative intended to help telecoms companies share information on ethical supply chain audits has appointed the supplier management company […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Sustainability goals set for government spending

Corporate responsibility is set to receive a significant boost in the UK as the result of a government-commissioned inquiry urging […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

A decent factory

Thomas Balmes (director). DVD. 79 mins. Produced by Making Movies (see web link below). €150 ($190, £105) The blurb on […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Fairtrade sales show big rise

Global sales of Fairtrade products rose by a third to £758million ($1.46billion) in 2005, according to the Fairtrade Foundation, which […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

Corporates and academics must pull in one direction

CSR will make more progress when business schools and companies work better together, says Peter Lacy Business schools sit on […]

TriplePundit

July 11, 2006

Community Development

ANZ makes progress on responsible lending

The ANZ banking group has reported that 11 per cent fewer customers had their credit card limits increased in the […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

Asian firms look at ethical alcohol selling

Alcoholic drinks producers in Asia are meeting to decide how best to self-regulate their advertising and marketing in a responsible […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

US court tells Unocal to pay over human rights

Unocal has been told it must itself find the money to pay for an out of court settlement with alleged […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

Chinese companies to disclose moves on rural poverty

The 20 companies in the Chinese Association for Corporate Social Responsibility are to ask their suppliers next month to reveal […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

Japanese endorse new SRI principles

A number of Japanese pension funds and asset managers have endorsed the Principles for Responsible Investment introduced at the New […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

Chinese companies take action on pollution

Companies in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland have signed a voluntary charter to combat pollution. The initiative, from the […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006

Community Development

South Pacific tourism gets a conscience

A code of practice covering the social, environmental, cultural, ethical and quality aspects of the tourism business has been introduced […]

TriplePundit

July 10, 2006