SOCIETY

Community Development

NHS gets CSR bug as trust creates a health service first

The corporate responsibility profession has gained a foothold within one of the world’s largest employers, the UK’s National Health Service. […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

The PRI seeks to pull off a tricky balancing act

The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment have passed the two-year mark. EP talks to executive director James Gifford about […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Impact of growth ‘ignored’ by many carbon strategies

Too few companies consider the impact of business growth when developing programmes to reduce their carbon emissions. The warning is […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

League tables cannot make sense of a complex picture

By all means compare company behaviour, but we must avoid over-simplified rankings, says Julia King. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the company I […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Compact may raise the bar

Signatories to the United Nations Global Compact may soon have to meet a minimum standard for the content of their […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

MPs and Lords prepare inquiry conclusions

A group of UK parliamentarians is expected to publish the conclusions of an inquiry into corporate responsibility by the end […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

The Difference Makers

Sandra Waddock. Paperback. 320 pages. Greenleaf Publishing. £21.95. Who makes a difference? And how do they do it? This book […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Church investor eyes Chinese market

A leading Christian–based socially responsible investment house has signalled that it will begin engagement with Chinese companies on environmental, social […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

CFS judged to have best impact on society

Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) has won the overall Impact on Society award in this year’s Business in the Community (Bitc) […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Wal-Mart signs ‘responsible’ deal with employees

Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, and its employees in Shenyang, north-east China, have signed a collective contract under which pay […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Iraq comes clean on oil revenue

Iraq is to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which promotes disclosure of revenue payments by oil, gas and […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

When it comes to bribery in China, cash is king

Most requests for business-related bribes in China are cash demands, the first year of a bribe-monitoring project has revealed.   […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Registering approval

A new strain of tuberculosis is set to break out across the world, and a multinational pharmaceutical company is desperate […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Fuelling the debate

Cement is an energy intensive business that is responsible for five per cent of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions. It’s […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

A matter of principle

Most companies that take sustainability seriously strive to integrate responsible business principles right across their organization rather than allowing them […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Setting a standard

For most businesses, implementing a robust ethics policy in Northern Europe is one thing, but applying the same rigours to […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Gaining a global perspective

Abraham Lincoln once said: ‘give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Right tools for the job

Part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that people have the right to a standard of living adequate […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Siemens goes after execs in bribery case

Siemens has taken the unusual step of claiming damages from 11 senior executives implicated in the company’s bribery scandal. It […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Bakrie Telecom supports Grameen project

Indonesia’s first village phone programme, providing affordable wireless telecommunications in rural communities, is being introduced through a co-operative effort between […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

BAE sets out plans to put its house in order

Defence giant BAE Systems has set out how it intends to implement the 23 recommendations made by an independent committee […]

TriplePundit

September 5, 2008

Community Development

Gender equality scores fall in Apac

Disappointing results from an annual gender equality survey in the Asia- Pacific region were announced at the 18th Global Summit […]

TriplePundit

July 9, 2008

Community Development

IMF creates standards for sovereign wealth funds

A code of conduct for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) is being drawn up by one of the world’s most powerful […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Ruggie wins more time

The United Nations Human Rights Council last month extended the mandate of John Ruggie, its special representative on business and […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Big four clothes firms fare best on sustainability issues

Adidas, Nike, Puma and Timberland have been identified as leaders in sustainability among clothing manufacturers. A study by Switzerland-based Bank […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

£9bn Olympic budget will have ethical basis

Suppliers of products and services for the 2012 Olympic Games in London will have to follow sustainable procurement guidelines. In […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Australia unveils CSR plan

The Australian government has established an ambitious three-year project to expand responsible business practice across the country. The treasury will […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Steel giant signs safety deal

The world’s largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal, has signed a deal with trade unions to improve the company’s health and safety […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Bottom-up approach may improve factory conditions

A collaborative approach to ethical supply chain management can lead to ‘substantive’ improvements in factory working conditions, according to the […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Diversity is still a blind spot for big business

FTSE 100 companies have made progress on many corporate responsibility issues over the past five years, but they are not […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Spanish law brings ethics into public contracts

Public sector procurement of products and services in Spain must now take account of corporate responsibility factors, thanks to a […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Nanotechnology businesses agree ethical guidelines

Companies in the developing area of nanotechnology are to be invited to adopt seven responsible practice principles that have been […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Danish firms face new disclosure requirements

Denmark is to introduce legislation that will require the country’s 1000 largest businesses to report on corporate responsibility in annual […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Advising pension funds on sustainability issues

Pension funds are increasingly seeking to reflect long term sustainability considerations in their investment strategies, Jane Goodland tells Mike Scott […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

McCain and Obama on corporate responsibility

EP examines the policy plans on corporate responsibility that have been revealed by the two US presidential contenders in the […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Big firms fail to integrate their reports

Annual reports and sustainability reports do not cross-reference each other enough, says a new study by a London-based communications consultancy. […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

BT sets pace as business gets serious about carbon

BT has set aggressive corporate greenhouse gas reduction targets by aiming to cut its total carbon emissions by 80 per […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

India to get reporting rules

New rules on business responsibility disclosure and sustainability reporting standards are to be produced by a stakeholder committee of the […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

CSR's trail-blazer needs to get out of the thicket and back on track

The UK government has been instrumental in the development of corporate social responsibility over the last decade. Listed companies must […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

MBA student values pose problem for Chinese firms

Chinese companies have been told to take note of a survey of MBA students that shows they are taking more […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Analysts agree KPIs

Key performance indicators covering environmental, social and governance matters for use by investment analysts and others have passed the first […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Arab world gets CSR body

Queen Rania of Jordan has formed an Arab Sustainability Leadership Group to promote corporate responsibility across the Middle East. She […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Bitc index gets more backers this year

The number of companies taking part in the UK’s annual Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index rose this year, […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Corpocracy

Robert A G Monks. Hardback. 252 pages. Wiley. £15.99/$29.95 This book is a call for action to restore fiduciary responsibility […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Emerging nation web users think more about ethics

Online consumers in developing nations are more likely to consider ethical issues when making buying decisions than those in developed […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Jupiter engaged for Taiwan fund

Prudential Corporation Asia has retained the UK consultancy Jupiter Asset Management to advise on its PCA Global Green Solutions Fund, […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

KPMG introduces code of conduct for suppliers

KPMG in Europe is claiming to have become the first large accountancy group to produce a supplier code of conduct. […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Software giant backs One Laptop project

Microsoft has agreed to allow its Windows operating system to be used by the non-profit One Laptop Per Child programme […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

YES bank comes up trumps

India’s YES Bank has gained one of the main prizes in this year’s FT Sustainable Banking Awards. YES, which has […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Primark problems show audits cannot reveal all

The retailer Primark has blamed the presence of child labour in its supply chain on ‘wholesale deception’ by three suppliers […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Helveta wins ethical timber contract in Indonesia

Helveta, the information technology company that developed the CI WorldTM software for tracking timber assets in supply chains, has won […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Travel patterns slow to change

Hardly any British business people reduced their travelling during 2007, even though many of their companies have clear policies on […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Business not trusted on climate change

Barely a fifth of Australian consumers trust international companies, local businesses or their government to give accurate global warming information. […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

GRI biodiversity advice now in Japanese

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) document Biodiversity, produced 18 months ago to guide companies that report on the issue, has […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

PetroChina plea turned down

The United Nations Global Compact has rejected a demand that it use its influence to persuade oil company PetroChina to […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

OECD acts to address criticism of its guidelines

The OECD is examining ways to extend the reach of its guidelines for multinationals into China. Forty countries – among […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Sovereign fund goes for exclusions

China’s $200billion (£100.8bn) sovereign wealth fund is to become a socially responsible global investor by shunning industries such as gambling, […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

Good conduct at the very top sets the tone for the rest of us

Only business leaders with self-restraint can steer companies along the right path, says the Dalai Lama In Buddhism we believe […]

TriplePundit

July 7, 2008

Community Development

SA8000 standard gets new look

One of the most widely used corporate responsibility standards has been made more explicit after a two-year revision. The SA8000 […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

SRI backers fail to change pensions Bill

The UK government has defeated a parliamentary move to introduce socially responsible investment principles into its future plans for national […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Sweden leads by example in reporting and investment

The mandatory requirement for state-owned companies in Sweden to produce an annual sustainability report will not be extended to listed […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

IBM high-fliers get an exclusive volunteering scheme

IBM has set up a programme that it likens to an in-house version of the US Peace Corps, through which […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Ministers seek holy grail of social return measure

The UK government is to develop a standard way of calculating social return on investment. The Cabinet Office has set […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

CSR is toughing out the slowdown – for now

The corporate responsibility recruitment market appears to be largely unaffected by the growing economic difficulties worldwide, although the picture is […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Index spotlights firms that cater for base of pyramid

A new index has been created to recognize companies whose products, services and outlook concentrate on the needs of poor […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Rio Tinto expands sustainability data in its annual report

Rio Tinto has devoted an unusually large section of its latest annual report to information on corporate responsibility. The mining […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Advisers not easy to please

Executives working within companies have a more positive view of how successful their corporate responsibility programmes are than the consultants […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Mining company fights back over ActionAid claims

Anglo American has taken the unusual step of issuing a 40-page report rebutting allegations of human rights abuses by its […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

‘Courageous’ BAE agrees root and branch reform

One of the world’s largest defence companies has been praised for having the ‘courage’ to adopt 23 recommendations from an […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Enthusiasts find they have a global hit on their hands

Ethical Investment Research Services first began assessing companies a quarter of a century ago. Mike Scott talks to its chief […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Violations hit European firms

European companies lose market value when they are associated with environmental violations – but US businesses tend to escape unscathed. […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008

Community Development

Pressure mounts on ‘slow’ chocolate sector

A group of Fairtrade companies, faith groups and non-governmental organizations has produced basic principles on the sourcing of cocoa to […]

TriplePundit

May 30, 2008