CorporateResponsibility.Net

This is an interesting article about CSR best practice. The example of Levi’s is a very good one in my opinion. They have been active in this field for any many years now.

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Another story to focus on as we continue to look at the steps some of our larger companies are taking in terms of corporate social responsibility. In 2010 a progressive business knows they can benefit us all and improve their consumer standing by enacting plans that show a commitment to community and environment. Today we turn our attention to Levis Strauss & Co. who have joined with Goodwill to announce a partnership that promote environmental benefits. They have announced a new collaboration in an initiative they have labeled “Care Tag for Our Planet”.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.miratelinc.com/blog/levis-wearing-social-responsibility-with-pride/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+miratel+%28Miratel+Solutions%29

The Emerging Markets Disclosure Project (EMDP), an international initiative to improve corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG or sustainability) reporting in emerging markets, and more specifically to promote greater disclosure of sustainability factors by corporations operating in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and South Korea, today issued a renewed call to investors to sign onto its Investor Statement on Sustainability Reporting in Emerging Markets.  Signatories to the statement affirm that the next generation of leading companies will distinguish themselves through their commitment to sustainability through robust ESG reporting and will be correspondingly rewarded by the market.

Read more (Source: GRI)

First found on CSR Europe.

Supermarket group Tesco, which pumps out some four million tonnes of carbon a year, today opened its first zero carbon store as part of its bid to be a carbon ­neutral company by 2050.

The shop, in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, is timber-framed rather than steel, and uses skylights and sun pipes to cut lighting costs. It also has a combined heat and power plant powered by renewable bio-fuels, exporting extra electricity back to the national grid. In addition the refrigerators – one of the biggest blackspots for food retailers trumpeting their green credentials – have doors to save energy and harmful HFC refrigerant gases have been replaced.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/02/tesco-carbon-neutral-green-building

An interesting post on the Cadbury takeover by Kraft:

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Over the weekend, The Guardian carried an article about Kraft’s purchase of Cadbury.  The first three paragraphs were telling, and damning:

Kraft has promised to honour Cadbury’s current deal to sell Fairtrade chocolate after fears that it would stop selling ethically-sourced confectionery if its takeover goes ahead.

Jonathan Horrell, the UK corporate affairs director for the US food conglomerate, said Kraft already worked “extensively” with sustainably sourced cocoa and coffee suppliers and planned to maintain Cadbury’s contracts with the Fairtrade Foundation.

But he would not confirm whether Kraft would continue Cadbury’s ongoing talks to expand its use of Fairtrade cocoa beans into other brands – a major and continuing worry for the Fairtrade Foundation.

When I first read this article, I was furious.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.sustainabilityforum.com/blog/cadbury%E2%80%99s-melted-down-profit-nothing-else

A group of 60 firms, including some of the world’s largest companies, have this week begun measuring the greenhouse gas emissions from their products and supply chains using two new methodologies.

The frameworks, which could become the basis for new international standards, were developed by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP) Initiative, a decade-long partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The initiative had already developed a GHGP accounting tool to enable international organisations to understand, quantify and measure the emissions and electricity consumption of their own operations.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2256587/global-firms-trial

This is an article I found today. I can not really see the sense in this to be honest. Doesn’t this weaken the brand identity of McDonalds? I am not so sure that this is the right way forward McDonalds! This is how the article begins:

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McDonald’s is going to change its logo in Germany, casting its iconographic golden arches against a green background to envoke its respect for the environment. I can’t decide if the idea is irrelevant or insane. Or both.

Central to the decision would be the premise that fast-food customers make eating decisions based on corporate environmental policies. If comparisons between hamburgers or fries net out in a tie, McDonald’s must believe that it’ll win because it’s doing good things for the planet.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/147761

Last week, the drinks giant announced the global launch of its PlantBottle sustainable packaging initiative.

The scheme involves making bottles using 30% renewable sources to reduce the company’s reliance on petroleum oil.

The sustainable positioning will be central to Coca-Cola’s global consumer advertising, with each market creating an initiative to promote the packaging.

In Canada, for example, the company will back the initiative using the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/969045/Coca-Cola-struggles-bring-greener-bottles-UK/

British companies are failing to take the strategic implications of climate change seriously and are missing out on investment opportunities, a study sponsored by three major UK investors said Monday.

Firms are addressing the impact of major climate-linked events, but are neglecting to manage incremental changes or extend their focus into supply chains, raw materials or logistics, the study found.

The report comes as climate change takes center stage ahead of a key conference in Copenhagen next month, where world leaders are expected to lay the groundwork, if not finalize the details, for a successor to the Kyoto treaty.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5AM2OY20091123

Eradicating poverty is the first UN Millennium Development Goal and an increasingly pressing global issue. Halving the amount of people living in extreme poverty by 2015 (in relation to 1990) is a daunting challenge and needs the collaboration and effort of many different entities – business corporations included.

Several CSR Europe members have incorporated poverty eradication in their CSR endeavours, targeting different aspects of the issue and producing vital opportunities for people living in poverty around the world.

Read the complete article here:

http://www.csreurope.org/news.php?type=&action=show_news&news_id=2872

Major companies around the world are failing to engage with stakeholders despite the interactive opportunities provided by the web

I mentioned in my recent blog on online CSR reporting that a study was coming out which is pretty damning about company transparency around social, ethical and environmental performance and I would give more details when it was made public.

Well, the report by Milan-based communications consultancy Lundquist is now out so I thought it would be useful to highlight what it says.

Read the complete article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainability/blog/2