SOCIETY

Community Development

Gap acts on child labour findings

Gap, the US clothes retailer, is reducing by half the orders it places with a vendor whose sub-contractor used children […]

TriplePundit

December 3, 2007

Community Development

FTSE4Good goes Spanish

A Spanish FTSE4Good index is to begin operating in the first quarter of next year. FTSE4Good Ibex will be administered […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Bangladesh gets CSR partnership forum

Businesses and civil society bodies have formed the Bangladesh Partnership Forum to promote awareness of the value of sustainable development […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Business looks at how to be a good sport

Sport may soon become the new hot topic in corporate responsibility, thanks to an initiative between the international bank Standard […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

US intervenes to promote ethics in its own backyard

The US government has made a rare direct foray into the world of corporate responsibility by providing $2million (£960,000) to […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

GRI brings in three Asian voices

Three Asia Pacific representatives have been appointed to the Global Reporting Initiative’s Stakeholder Council. Aditi Haldar, of the Confederation of […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Puma enlists journalist to enhance its auditing

Puma has taken the unusual step of asking a journalist to join some of its ethical supply chain inspections and […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

China cuts loans to polluters

Twelve Chinese businesses out of 30 accused of pollution this year have had loans blocked or withdrawn by the state […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Eurostar links up with FoE

Eurostar has become only the second company to be chosen as an official partner of Friends of the Earth. FoE, […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Fund managers fail transparency test

Three-quarters of the largest UK fund managers fail to disclose publicly any SRI policies, even though many have them. A […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Investors get help identifying Iran links

The SRI research provider KLD has introduced an Iran Compliance Service to guide insitutional investors and money managers whose clients […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Nine aspirations for the coming new year

What would you wish for in the corporate responsibility field in 2008? EP asked some of its subscribers for their […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

US companies ‘fail to tell it like it is’

One of the biggest barriers to the spread of corporate social responsibility in the US is the lack of openness […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Property firms can benefit from social concern

Commercial investors can achieve greater returns on their property investments by considering and acting on social and environmental issues than […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Pension fund disinvests from Vedanta

The Norwegian government pension fund has decided to disinvest from four Indian subsidiaries of a mining company over concerns about […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

IBM offers microfinance aid

Information technology giant IBM is to help microfinance institutions better serve poor communities by improving the software they use. IBM […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Company payments to Burma ‘should be blocked by governments’

New investment in Burma’s oil and gas fields should be banned by the United Nations Security Council and company payments […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Vietnam network pushes transparency

The founders of a new United Nations Global Compact network in Vietnam have pledged to make increased corporate transparency one […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

CSR sites ape Facebook

CSR organizations are attempting to turn the current fashion for social networking websites to their commercial advantage. At least four […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Courses are on the rise but levels still ‘too low’

The number of elective courses with social and environmental content at business schools has increased by a fifth in two […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

A battle for proxy access has been won, but the war is far from over

Last month, socially responsible investors in the US relaxed in the knowledge that the Securities and Exchange Commission was not, […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Boom time US tempts Brits to venture abroad

Rapidly increasing interest in responsible business practice in America has prompted two UK-based specialist consultancies to establish operations across the […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Hunting for value among the European small caps

The lack of research into the sustainability performance of companies with a market capitalization below €10billion has created an opportunity […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Investors fight off plan to curb voting rights – for now

Socially responsible investors around the world breathed a sigh of relief late last month when the US Securities and Exchange […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

BHP Billiton 2007 sustainability report

Hard copy, 24 pages. Or online at www.bhpbilliton.com Taking account of BHP Billiton’s impacts across a huge range of operations […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Don’t let the moralists lead you into a philosophical quagmire

Arriving at a socially responsible position is what matters, not how we get there, says Gerry Hagelberg I don’t beat […]

TriplePundit

December 3, 2007

Community Development

Delta volunteers build homes in India

Forty employees of the US airline Delta have given time and funds in association with the non-governmental organization Habitat for […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

UPS gives $1m backing to micro-credit

Loans for poor entrepreneurs in 15 countries, including China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, are to be provided from a […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

CSR makes its TV debut on the internet

Corporate responsibility now has its own dedicated television channel. Internet-based CSR.TV has been established in the UK as an offshoot […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Multinationals show the way in emerging Europe

Businesses in central and eastern European countries that have recently joined or applied to join the European Union generally practise […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Business itching to start talks on social goals for 2015

The world’s third largest mining company has urged the United Nations to bring together companies, governments and civil society for […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

SRI body takes on new identity

The Australian Ethical Investment Association, the Sydney-based industry body for SRI professionals in Australia and New Zealand, has been renamed […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Business reviews are unaffected

Recently announced delays to the implementation of the Companies Act in the UK will not alter the timetable for listed […]

TriplePundit

December 3, 2007

Community Development

Irish companies to be offered kitemark

A corporate responsibility kitemark for companies in Ireland will be produced next year. The ‘CR standard’ will be awarded to […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Nanotechnology sector moves closer to agreeing code

Seven principles of responsible practice for companies in the developing area of nanotechnology are being finalized. The Responsible NanoCode has […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

IT firms share audit data in bid to end duplication

Some of the world’s largest telecoms and information technology companies have begun sharing information on the results of their ethical […]

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December 3, 2007

Community Development

Vodafone steps in to help India

The Vodafone Group is to set up the Vodafone India Foundation with an initial injection of $10million (£4.85m) to offer […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

Garment companies ‘ignorant of CSR’

A study of the Australian garment industry, in which outworkers are used extensively, has shown that employers have been slow […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

Westpac is ‘best’ on volunteering

Westpac has won a new Australian award for employers that encourage their staff to volunteer. The bank has taken the […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

Japanese firms still behind Europe on CSR

Japanese companies perform strongly on environmental issues but need to improve in other areas to match European achievements, says a […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

Chinese CSR debates get under way

The China Supply Chain Council, a community of 20,000 business professionals, has kicked off a new season of formal discussions […]

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November 5, 2007

Community Development

Companies ‘need to improve’ on indigenous rights

Seven large companies have been said in a new study to be doing too little to protect indigenous peoples’ rights. […]

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November 5, 2007

Community Development

Korea gets Compact network

A Global Compact Network has been set up to promote ethical business standards and practice in Korea. The new group […]

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November 5, 2007

Community Development

Inspirational Deveshwar scoops award

An industrialist who joined the Indian company ITC from college and became its chairman and chief executive has won the […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

Aussie centre walks the talk

The Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility has decided to practise what it preaches by releasing its first sustainability report. […]

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November 5, 2007

Community Development

More support needed to reach millennium goals

Many of the less developed economies in the Asia Pacific region need global support to plug the biggest gaps, even […]

TriplePundit

November 5, 2007

Community Development

CSR diploma targets execs

Geneva University is introducing a CSR diploma for business leaders in January. The Certificate of Advanced Studies in Corporate Social […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

More firms leave Burma

Two household name companies – Rolls-Royce and Cartier – are to quit Burma as a result of the recent brutal […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Cranfield moves to bring CSR into its MBA programmes

One of the world’s top business management schools is to integrate corporate responsibility topics into all its MBA courses. Cranfield […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Product recalls prompt Mattel to restructure

The world’s largest toy company, Mattel, has created an internal ‘corporate responsibility organization’ with sweeping powers as part of its […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Barclay unveils new $150m global strategy

One of the world’s biggest banks has finalized its first global community investment strategy. Barclays, which operates in more than […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Good governance 'is key to meaningful change'

The mining industry needs to extend its corporate responsibility efforts beyond well-trodden areas such as community support and do more […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Supply chain watchdog is proposed

Supermarkets in Britain should be required to answer to an independent watchdog set up to protect workers in developing countries, […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Pension funds keep their SRI lights under a bushel

The pension funds of some of Britain’s most socially responsible companies have been criticized for lacking transparency on their social […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

‘conservative’ managers told to change their ways

Findings from one of the largest ever corporate responsibility research projects suggest that executives with social and environmental responsibilities are […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Sainsbury’s gives boost to Fairtrade supplies

The availability of ethically sourced products in British supermarkets further increased last month as Sainsbury’s announced that its own-brand range […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Pricing sustainability into the bottom line

Blackrock, part owned by Merrill Lynch, carries out indepth research into companies’ social, environmental and ethical performance for use across […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Deutsche Post signs up to child mortality programme

Deutsche Post has entered into a global partnership with the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (Unicef) to reduce child mortality. The […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Airline cuts out all deportation flights

A British charter airline has announced that for ethical reasons it will no longer carry deported asylum-seekers who have failed […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

The Celtic Tiger is now coming of age

The first ever ‘corporate responsibility week’ took place in Ireland last month. EP looks at the state of CSR in […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

The fault lines in corporate social responsibility have been revealed

The crisis at Northern Rock is an exposure of corporate social responsibility. The UK’s fifth largest mortgage provider had to […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

We need a force of partisans to create sustainable business

Committed staff working as agents of change can make a big difference, argues Malcolm McIntosh Those who openly question company […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Bribery details go online

Confidential details of bribes are being collected by a corporate-led project to give an account of corruption trends in business. […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Pharmaceuticals firms cogitate on human rights guidance

Human rights guidelines have been drafted for pharmaceuticals companies by a United Nations expert. The guidelines on how the industry […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Facebook generation puts firms in the dock

The increasing use of internet chat groups to challenge the behaviour of companies was highlighted last month when campaigning against […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Flybe achieves labelling first

Flybe has become the first airline to introduce an aircraft eco-labelling scheme for passengers. Under the scheme, devised by the […]

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November 2, 2007

Community Development

Chime makes further acquisition

One of Britain’s oldest corporate responsibility consultancies has been acquired by a global public relations group. The Corporate Citizenship Company […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

For the common good: the ethics of leadership in the 21st century

John C Knapp (ed). Hardback. 174 pages. Praeger. £25.95/$44.95 It may be relatively slim, but this examination of ‘the ethical […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Private equity firms fare poorly on ethics codes

Private equity firms hold on to their investments longer than many people think, but have weak formal mechanisms for ensuring […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

CDP nets 77% of big companies

Harley Davidson is the only company in the automobile and components sector that failed to provide details of its greenhouse […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Compact detractors create their own space

Critics of the United Nations Global Compact have started their own website where they can raise concerns. The Global Compact […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007

Community Development

Greenpeace director accentuates the positive

The head of one of the world’s most influential pressure groups has declared that he now recognizes the worth of […]

TriplePundit

November 2, 2007