SOCIETY

Community Development

Assurers ‘need to say more’

Too many assurance statements add little value to non-financial reports, a specialist group has warned. The panel of 22 judges […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

De Beers adds ethical conditions to contracts

The marketing arm of the world’s largest diamond company is now including specific ethical provisions in contracts with companies that […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

British framework aims to define role of government

The UK has formally established the parameters of its corporate social responsibilities. EP considers the implications for companies Although the […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Breathing new life into ethical supply chain management

Many CSR practitioners will have heard stories of supply chain auditors who visited a factory in a developing country only […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Places on offer at CSR gathering

Bookings are now being taken for this year’s Ethical Performance Retreat, which is to be held from 7-8 June at […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

CSR in Russia is ‘disorganized’

Corporate responsibility in Russia is generally ‘disorganized and chaotic’, according to the first national assessment of the social impact of […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Rummaging in the attic

John Elkington has had a big influence on the development of more sustainable business practices. His online journal offers an […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Extra help for clothing sector

The apparel and footwear sector is to have its own supplement to the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines on sustainability reporting. […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Ethical champions take strain at Allied Domecq

The UK spirits and wines distributor Allied Domecq has brought together a group of ‘ethical champions’ inside the company as […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Class action scope is tightened

One of the legal devices used by US campaigners to challenge companies on their social and environmental performance has been […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

15 targeted on labour rights

Fifteen companies are facing shareholder resolutions in the US urging them to adopt human rights policies on workplace conditions in […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Ikea targets child labour

Ikea has begun discussions with Unicef, the United Nations children’s agency, on countering child labour in the north Indian state […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Academy courts outside interest

The UK’s CSR Academy has begun a search for international and development organizations interested in buying a licence to use […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Index fever mounts as Brazil joins rising band

Brazil is to get its own sustainability index this summer. The benchmark, being set up by Bovespa, the Brazilian stock […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Steel sector makes joint effort to report on its impacts

Forty-two of the world’s major steel companies have brought out a joint sustainability report on their environmental and social impacts. […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Hedge fund homes in on boycott casualties

Activists have set up a hedge fund betting on the possibility that the market value of a company will fall […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

PR standards in the offing

The UK’s public relations industry is to formulate CSR standards in the coming year. A CSR network set up by […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Smaller extractive firms are invited to transparency party

Pressure is to be applied on some of the UK’s smaller oil and mining companies to support the Extractive Industries […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Why business has to end its vow of silence

To win back some of the trust it has lost, business must start voicing opinions on moral matters, argues Sir […]

TriplePundit

March 31, 2005

Community Development

Forestry firm under pressure from Citigroup

A large Malaysian forestry company has been warned by its bank that it must meet better environmental standards or face […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Five year initiative makes inroads

Factory employees and managers have paid tribute to the work of the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, a five-year […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Oil firm tie-ups with NGOs are condemned

Links between conservation bodies and oil companies were condemned by the Oilwatch South East Asia Network as the two met […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Ford volunteers in tsunami mission

The first task of an employee volunteer group set up by Ford Motor Company will be to help to rebuild […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Sportswear sector makes good progress

The sports footwear industry, often accused of violating fundamental labour standards, has made greater progress in implementing worker-friendly codes of […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Laos project gets go ahead

Finance for a huge hydroelectric dam in Laos has been recommended by the World Bank advisory panel despite an undercurrent […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Good ethics wins it for Posco

Good management, in which the ethics of enterprise are given priority over profit, is one of the main factors that […]

TriplePundit

March 16, 2005

Community Development

Banks agree ethical principles

South Korean banks have agreed on a set of principles for their industry including a commitment to act in a […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

CEOs see value of good behaviour

Nearly all chief executives in Asia were found in a survey to believe that effective governance, risk management and compliance […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Sustainability network is formed

A network of companies and non-governmental organizations from across Asia and the Pacific has been formed to promote sustainable development, […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Singapore pinpoints future CSR leaders

Singapore Management University is to hand-pick about 50 of its 1000 undergraduates every year to be trained as ‘socially conscious […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Toshiba targets suppliers

Toshiba has drawn up a procurement policy for its 400 companies establishing CSR standards it requires from suppliers. The Japanese […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Chinese leaders show way

The China Business Leaders Forum, a corporate-led initiative, will be set up in March by the International Business Leaders Forum. […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Tobacco firm issues debut social report

The Pakistan Tobacco Company has become the country’s first multinational to publish a social report. The company, part of British […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Two SRI indexes for Australia

Australian investors will soon have two options for selecting CSR performers. Australia’s first SRI index is being established by RepuTex, […]

TriplePundit

March 8, 2005

Community Development

Henderson targets tax matters

A UK fund manager has signalled that it considers the way companies manage their tax affairs to fall within the […]

TriplePundit

February 28, 2005

Community Development

Data overload hits chain

Somerfield, the UK’s fifth largest supermarket chain, is to set up a system to store information gathered in ethical checks […]

TriplePundit

February 28, 2005

Community Development

VideoCorporate social responsibility: from principles to profits

BBC Business Learning video training pack, 50 mins, £495. www.businesslearning.com Despite the rather ominous warning on the packaging that this […]

TriplePundit

February 28, 2005

Community Development

Reporting practices are beginning to sort the sheep from the goats

With the annual CSR reporting season nearly upon us, now is an appropriate time to ask where social and sustainability […]

TriplePundit

February 28, 2005

Community Development

CSR performance helps radio groups’ merger bid

One of the UK’s largest commercial radio stations believes that its corporate responsibility record has helped it overcome regulatory hurdles […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Investors pick brokers for SRI bonuses

Seven brokerage houses have now been chosen by a mainstream institutional investors’ group to receive a financial incentive for providing […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Abbey takes new lead on disfigurement

Abbey National is helping companies improve employment opportunities and customer service for people with severe disfigurements to their face, hands […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Dixons steps up pace with human rights code

Dixons, the UK’s biggest electrical goods retailer, is developing a human rights charter. The policy, which the FTSE 100 company […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Wal-Mart comes out fighting over its responsibility record

Wal-Mart is challenging ‘urban myths’ about the retailer’s lack of social responsibility in a nationwide US advertising campaign. The world’s […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Wilson lined up for The Retreat

Veteran campaigner and corporate responsibility proponent Des Wilson will be keynote speaker at The Retreat, which is being held at […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Event managers bow to changing demands

The organizers of two of the world’s largest CSR and SRI conferences have shelved their showcase events, reflecting delegate demands […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

SRI adopted by exchange traded funds

SRI is moving into the world of exchange traded funds. Two new such funds, which take the form of an […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Marketplace group begins three year trip

Members of a senior working group on product responsibility, marketing and supply chain management met for the first time in […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Business needs to open new frontier for the poor

The corporate response to the tsunami disaster was heartening, but it highlighted the need for concerted action to help developing […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Shipping firms sail into new waters

Shipping companies are meeting this month to decide how best to raise social and environmental standards in their industry. The […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Editorial standards are the key issue for media sector

Media companies can show their corporate responsibility best through transparent and responsible editorial policies, a consultation with the sector’s stakeholders […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

CSR commitment kept ailing company alive

The head of the shoe and clothing multinational Timberland has said his group’s commitment to community involvement helped to restore […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Corporate Critic gets overhaul

An online database that contains details of the social and environmental performance of more than 15,000 companies has been revamped […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Firms told to watch out for ‘half-truths’ of CSR

Some of the most widely accepted tenets of corporate responsibility, such as the need for social reporting and codes of […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Hewitt idea fails to find favour

Companies and investors have given a lukewarm response to a UK government call for them jointly to develop best practice […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Turkey to be test-bed for new code approach

Garment factories in Turkey are to be used as a test-bed for developing a common approach to implementing different codes […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Norms face long hard battle even to see the light of day

This month the United Nations reconsiders the future of a document that sets out accepted behaviour for multinationals. EP looks […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

GRI reports on itself – to its own standards

The organization that drew up worldwide sustainability reporting guidelines has used them to report on its own operations for the […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

World Bank takes up sustainability agenda

The World Bank has made an important advance in the evaluation of its operations and lending. In response to pressure […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

CSR Academy flexes its wings

The CSR Academy may extend its reach by licensing its training materials for use worldwide. The academy, established last year […]

TriplePundit

February 25, 2005

Community Development

Companies still slow to act, former Australian minister says

Progress in corporate sustainability made by Australian businesses, non-governmental organizations and the media has won praise from Ros Kelly, the […]

TriplePundit

February 14, 2005

Community Development

Sustainable palm-oil guidelines advance

Two public forums to publicize policy and seek suggestions have been held by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, set […]

TriplePundit

February 14, 2005

Community Development

India gets its own CSR body

A group has been set up to promote corporate social responsibility on the Indian subcontinent. The initiative originated with discussions […]

TriplePundit

February 14, 2005

Community Development

Burma companies pinpointed

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has listed 440 multinational companies trading with Burma, including more than 40 […]

TriplePundit

February 4, 2005

Community Development

Ethical standards body formed

A group that will try to raise and maintain the ethical standards of products from the Asia Pacific area was […]

TriplePundit

February 4, 2005

Community Development

Tsunami prompts best practice advice

Advice to corporates on best practice response to disasters is being developed by the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment […]

TriplePundit

February 4, 2005

Community Development

Singapore compact sets targets

Profitability and corporate responsibility were recommended as twin targets by a United Nations official at a ceremony held last month […]

TriplePundit

February 4, 2005

Community Development

Dam company in trouble

A company helping to build China’s Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project, has agreed to halt work while […]

TriplePundit

February 4, 2005

Community Development

'Helping victims of the Tsunami' by Robert Morton

No doubt your readers have been watching the tsunami news reports, stunned at the devastation following the massive earthquake off […]

TriplePundit

February 3, 2005

Community Development

UK could lead drive for international CSR forum

UK ministers are considering a proposal for an international forum on CSR that would try to galvanize governments to do […]

TriplePundit

February 20, 2001

Community Development

Study to analyse CSR costs and benefits

Research has begun in Europe to assess the financial benefits to companies of adopting sustainability programmes. The Advance project, funded […]

TriplePundit

February 20, 2001

Community Development

Calvert turns mirror on itself

One of the best-known SRI asset managers in the US has practised what it preaches by publishing its first sustainability […]

TriplePundit

February 20, 2001

Community Development

Drugs firms urged to forge closer relationships with NGOs

A United Nations health specialist has suggested pharmaceutical companies and human rights workers co-operate more closely to find ways of […]

TriplePundit

February 20, 2001