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CSRI CSR Research Digest (September 2010)

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Date

September 2010

Sustainability Commitment Study (US: Gibbs & Soell)
Banking Sector Report (Global: Covalence)
Environment Consulting Study (UK: Environment Analyst)
Food Security Risk Study (Global: Maplecroft)
Transport Report (Global: Carbon Disclosure Project)
SMEs and Low Carbon Economy Report (UK: Federation of Small Businesses)

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CSRI CSR Research Digest (September 2010)

About CSRI Research Digests

This Digest is prepared by CSR International as a free service to its subscribed members. The Digest should not be reproduced or forwarded without the permission of CSR International. The views expressed in this Digest in no way reflect those of CSR International, nor does CSR International endorse or vouch for the quality or accuracy of any third party research included. For more information on CSR International, membership or the Digests, please go to www.csrinternational.org or email info@csrinternational.org.

Tags: banking, commitment, consulting, economy, environment, food, low carbon, security, SME, Sustainability, transport
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SMEs and Low Carbon Economy Report

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

A report “Making sense of going green – small businesses and low carbon economy” has been recently released by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The report looks at short, medium and long term policy measures that can help UK small businesses play their part in the need to reduce carbon emissions as well as enjoy the benefits and opportunities of the new green economy.

Key Findings

Expanding the current loan scheme for small businesses and providing incentives for firms to green their buildings are just two of the measures that Government must look at in order to achieve the UK’s tough carbon emission reduction targets.

To get small business owners to proactively embrace energy efficiency, the Government needs to make going green economically viable.
While many small businesses understand the benefits of green investment, the upfront cost is a huge disincentive.
With 47% of the UK’s carbon emissions from buildings there is an urgent need to engage with the private sector to tackle this problem.
Furthermore, with 44% of small businesses renting their business premises, many for less than five years, neither the landlord nor the business would see the benefit of making the building as environmentally friendly as possible.
The FSB believes this can be done by:
- Incentivising private sector providers (banks, energy or construction companies) to pay the upfront costs of major building energy efficiency upgrades
- Guaranteeing ‘pay as you save’ repayments through energy bills – by linking the responsibility of repayment to the building would help overcome the landlord/tenant divide
- Supporting new business owners to green their buildings by encouraging firms in the worst G-rated buildings to take steps to move to an F-rating
- Not penalizing those who increase their ratable value through greening their premises by waiving the increased business rates

Author(s)

Federation of Small Businesses

Source

Full report

Tags: Business, Carbon, economy, Federation of Small Businesses, Green, low, small, SME, UK
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Transport Report

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The findings from a global study conducted by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) covers carbon emissions and climate change information of transport sector. The first comprehensive report of its kind on the transportation industry surveyed 291 of the largest transport companies which include road, rail, sea and air transport.

Key Findings

The global transportation industry could have a major long-term impact on climate change and world energy usage, if strategic investments are not made.

Transport firms lag behind ‘Global 500 Companies’ in mitigating greenhouse gasses and setting targets.
Only 36% of transportation companies have set carbon and energy reduction targets, compared to 51% of the ‘Global 500 Index’ of companies across all sectors.
The transport industry now accounts for 13% of global emissions and is one of the fastest energy-demand sectors, responsible for 60% of oil consumption in high-income countries (OECD countries).
Just 9% report information on current investments in emissions reduction and alternate low-carbon options and only 4% on future investments.
Road transportation accounts for 80% of the sectors total CO2 contribution, followed by air (13%) and sea transportation (7%).
53% of transport companies surveyed responded to CDP’s request indicating a lower level of engagement compared to the ‘Global 500’ with an 82% response rate.
Although reporting on investments for reducing emissions and greener technologies is still in its infancy, $31.93 billion has already been committed or invested into low carbon initiatives and innovations in the transportation sector worldwide.
A minority of companies are reporting significant investments including Air France-KLM, Easyjet, Canadian National Railways, Toyota, and UPS.
New technologies include installation of renewable energy systems; developing more efficient transport routes, low carbon fuels, and innovative vehicle design; or product innovation into hybrids or electric powered vehicles.

Author(s)

Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Source

Full report

Tags: Carbon, Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP, change, climate, emissions, sector, transport
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Food Security Risk Study

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The Food Security Risk Index 2010, released by risk analysis and rating firm Maplecroft, evaluates the risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163 countries. Maplecroft uses 12 criteria developed in collaboration with the World Food Programme, to calculate the ranking including: the nutritional and health status of populations, cereal production and imports, GDP per capita, natural disasters, conflict, and the effectiveness of government.

Key Findings

With global wheat prices expected to spike following an export ban in Russia due to fires destroying millions of hectares of crops, a new study measuring global food security has identified the food supplies of Afghanistan and nine Africa states as the countries which are most at risk and vulnerable to rising costs.

Afghanistan (1) is rated as least secure in food supplies, whilst the African nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (2), Burundi (3), Eritrea (4), Sudan (5), Ethiopia (6), Angola (7), Liberia (8), Chad (9) and Zimbabwe (10) are also considered “extreme risk.”
In all, African nations make up 36 of the 50 nations most at risk in the index.
Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to food insecurity because of the frequency of extreme weather events, high rates of poverty and failing infrastructures, including road and telecommunications networks, which decrease both production and distribution capacity.
Conflict is also a major driver of food insecurity and the ongoing violence in Afghanistan and DR Congo is largely responsible for the precarious food security situation in both countries.
Russian brakes on exports, plus a reduction in Canada’s harvest by almost a quarter due to flooding in June, are provoking fluctuations in the commodity markets. This will further affect the food security of the most vulnerable countries.
The heat wave in Russia (115 and medium risk) has come at the same time as devastating floods in Pakistan, which will have long term effects on the country’s food security situation.
Finland (163) is the country considered least at risk, whilst the other Scandinavian countries – Sweden (162), Denmark (161) and Norway (160) – follow closely behind. Other low risk countries include Canada, (159), USA (158), Germany (156), UK (146) and France (142).

Author(s)

Maplecroft

Source

Further details

The Food Security Risk Index 2010, released by risk analysis and rating firm Maplecroft, evaluates the risks to the supply of basic food staples for 163 countries.

Tags: food, Maplecroft, Risk, security
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Environment Consulting Study

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

The recent study by Environment Analyst covers in detail the market of UK environmental consulting sector. The market analysis is based on core figures supplied by over 50 companies as well as market trends information collated from 375 environmental business managers via Market Snapshot survey conducted during March to May 2010.

Key Findings

UK environmental consulting market falls by 5% but a return to growth is projected for 2010.

Market declines for first time in two decades to £1.35 billion in 2009, shedding over 1,000 jobs.
The headline findings also reveal the economic downturn has forced firms to sharpen their commercial skills and become more efficient, evident through rising staff utilization rates and turnover per head in 2009.
Demand from government bodies rose by 17% in 2009, in sharp contrast to a 9.5% dip in sales to the private sector (including utilities and other corporate clients).
There were double- digit declines in sales to the extractive, manufacturing & process industries, as well as to the finance & services and construction/property sectors.
However, public sector demand began to weaken in 2010, with consultants reporting growth of just 1-2% in government work at the time of our market snapshot survey3, which ran from March to May 2010.
Notwithstanding the spectre of public sector spending cuts, the overall market in the UK is forecast to grow by 1.4 % in 2010, compared with the projected GDP increase of 1.2%.
Climate change and energy, waste management and strategic environmental/sustainability services are expected to be the strongest growth areas for this year.
Contaminated land no longer ranks as the number-one income generator for UK environmental consultants as it has been for the last fifteen years, with revenue shrinking by more than a fifth in 2009 to £167 million – a victim of the decimation of the housebuilding industry and fall-out from the credit crunch.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) & sustainable development has moved into pole position to account for just over 14% of the total sector last year, with revenues declining less steeply than in contaminated land largely due to a more diverse client base.
Although overall market conditions are set to improve in 2010, there are indications that many small firms will struggle for survival this year.
Nearly half of SME survey respondents (those working for firms with revenues of less than £10 million) said their Q1 2010 performance was worse that they had budgeted for, compared with just 16% of larger firms (those with revenues greater than £10 million).

Author(s)

Environment Analyst

Source

Further details

Tags: consulting, environment, Environment Analyst, sector, UK
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Banking Sector Report

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Covalence Banking Sector 2010 report covers the progress in ethical reputation of the banking sector. The report analyses and compares the ethical reputation of 29 international banks, internally as well as against the 18 sectors benchmark covering 581 large companies.

Key Findings

The ethical reputation of banks shows a smaller progress than other sectors mainly due to a low volume of positive news regarding products, as well as criticisms related to remunerations and gender discriminations.

The Impact of Product criteria group only represents 16% of positive news registered on banks, against 37% for the 18 sectors benchmark.
Banks are shy in demonstrating the social utility of their products and in presenting their innovations in this field.
Many banking activities can be described in terms of contribution to sustainable development but banks don’t use these terms much.
The low level of criticisms targeting banks’ products can be interpreted as a lack of incentives.
Secondly, bankers seem to consider that highlighting their sustainable products may be counterproductive to the serious, conservative, cautious, and money-oriented corporate culture and image they show to their clients.
Next to the usual suspects (tax issues), wages was the most active criteria.
CEO compensation, traders’ bonuses, and the differential between the highest and the lowest salaries within banks have been abundantly criticized.
This report also highlights an increasing amount of negative comments about the status of women at work (discrimination on wages and promotions, a work atmosphere described as unfriendly to women).
On the positive side, banks registered the most points on social sponsorship (philanthropic donations, community investments) and on climate change mitigation.
Some banks are less shy than others in their offering of sustainable products, which allows them to score well in Covalence EthicalQuote Ranking.
For example, they communicate on their involvement in microfinance and renewable energy projects, on interest rates favorable to green buildings, or on their signing of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Author(s)

Covalence

Source

Further details

Tags: banking, banks, Covalence, Ethical, reputation, sector
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Sustainability Commitment Study

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

A new sustainability survey “2010 Gibbs & Soell Sense & Sustainability” finds U.S. consumers and executives skeptical about corporate sustainability commitment. The study surveyed both U.S. consumers and Fortune 1000 executives on their views of corporate efforts to improve the health of the environment through sustainable practices, products, or services.

Key Findings

Only 16% of U.S. consumers and 29% of Fortune 1000 executives believe that a majority of businesses are committed to sustainability.

54% of executives and 48% of consumers believe only “some” businesses are committed to “going green”.
Financial inefficiency, market reluctance and unclear measurement are impeding the path to corporate sustainability.
Executives cite insufficient return on investment (78%), consumers’ unwillingness to pay a premium for green products or services (71%), and difficulty in evaluating sustainability across a product life cycle (45%) as the top barriers to more businesses going green.
Businesses are taking more conservative approaches to resource management by asking “green” stewards to share duties.
While more than two-thirds of executives (69%) indicate their companies have people responsible for sustainability or “going green” initiatives, most have added responsibilities for green efforts to the primary duties of a team of individuals (35%), or a C-suite or another senior level position (15%).
Only about one in 10 say they have a C-suite or other senior level title/position dedicated solely to sustainability (12%), while 31% said there is no one at their organization who is primarily or partially responsible for green initiatives.

Author(s)

Gibbs & Soell

Source

Full report

Tags: commitment, consumers, Corporate, executives, Gibbs & Soell, Sustainability, US
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Book Review: World Inc. by Bruce Piasecki

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Title: World Inc.

Author: Bruce Piasecki

Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Publication Date: 2007

Pages: 304

Bruce Piasecki has subtitled this book “How the growing power of business is revolutionising profits, people and the future of both” and the statistics he provides in the beginning truly suggest a revolution. The author puts forward these numbers – 51 of the 100 largest economies in the world are now corporations, not nations; the top 300 multinational corporations control 25 percent of total global assets; only 21 nations have gross domestic products larger than the annual sales revenue of each of the six largest multinational corporations. Impressed? It seems only natural that in this changed world, it is the multinational corporations that hold the key to solving global problems, and not just governments or states.

The author goes through three parts in his book, where he first speaks of ‘the quiet revolution’ and focuses on the idea of social response capitalism and social response product development. He then talks about ‘redefining leadership’ and features case studies from Toyota and GE, among others. The third and final part is called ‘People, Inc’ where HP is used as a good example and other issues are explored, such as the market at the bottom of the pyramid.

In World Inc, Bruce Piasecki explores issues of responsibility and talks about how ‘following the money’ can lead to solutions. While the book is not a gripping page-turner in the way it’s written, the author occasionally throws out ideas and numbers that make the reader sit up and think. The book is also supported by a useful website, which features additional material on some of the issues explored in the book. Piasecki offers his readers a lot of food for thought and seems to predict a new future, where businesses will begin to provide products and services that embody social values, simply because this is where the profits will lie. Are you ready for a glimpse into the revolutionised business world of the future?

Reviewed by Nazareth Seferian, CSR International

Tags: Bruce Piasecki, product development, social response capitalism, social response product development, World Inc.
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Book Review: Primal Management by Paul Herr

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Title: Primal Management

Author: Paul Herr

Publisher: AMACOM

Publication Date: 2009

Pages: 288

The view—not to mention the location—was totally and completely mind boggling.

A full-page advertisement in, of all places, that refuge and champion of free-market capitalism—none other than The Wall Street Journal—and paid for by the paper’s corporate parent, Dow Jones. An oversized, two-colour headline proclaimed “MEET THE NEW BOSS”, followed by a striking portrait of Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary thought and author of The Origin of Species. The ad told readers, “In today’s environment, only the fittest sales organizations survive. Ensure your survival.”

Huh? What’s going on here? After 150 years of Darwinian thought, has the Capitalist Establishment finally gotten natural selection’s message?

Paul Herr, corporate consultant, seems at first to be another unlikely source of Darwinian wisdom. He’s been advising business for three decades, focusing mainly on employee engagement. Ah, but there’s the clue—how to get employees deeply engaged in their work and committed to their company’s goals. And why is that a tell-tale clue?

Because Herr believes he has found the secret, one buried discreetly but actually in plain view if you know where and especially how to look for it.

Darwin himself might have written Primal Management for it charts a behavioural and organizational pathway laid down by long-term evolutionary forces at the very core of management decision making. Herr’s unique contribution is to update Darwin’s own views of emotions’ importance by constructing a neurogenetic emotion-based toolkit for managers who are looking for ways to enhance the productivity of their companies. Feed the five key socio-emotional appetites he identifies; heed the emotional physics driving a company’s workforce; let emotional intelligence share organisational space with pragmatic rationality – then stand back and watch your company soar far beyond its competitors.

Primal Management is without doubt the best extant example of Natural Corporate Management in action – a practical, usable, workable guide for managers who want to harness the power of human emotions to enhance their firms’ market success while simultaneously serving society’s broader needs – all of this in the name of Darwin himself. The Wall Street Journal seems to have gotten it right after all: Meet the New Boss!

Adapted from a review by William C. Frederick

(Full version available at http://www.williamcfrederick.com/articles%20archive/Herr+Review.pdf)

Tags: decision making, Management, Paul Herr, Primal Management
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Book Review: The World Guide to CSR edited by Wayne Visser and Nick Tolhurst

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Title: The World Guide to CSR

Edited by: Wayne Visser and Nick Tolhurst

Publisher: Greenleaf Publishing

Publication Date: 2010

Pages: 512

Planning your vacation to Finland? You might like to know that Fortum, Kesko, Neste Oil and Nokia are leading-light corporates practicing CSR in that country. Want to keep up with the CSR news whilst travelling in Austria? The Glocalist offers a daily online newspaper, weekly digital magazine and monthly print magazine. Taking a business trip to Tanzania? You might find it worth consideration that Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world and faces a mature, generalized HIV pandemic. Looking for a milk supplier in Pakistan? Try The Dairy Project. This is the fifth largest producer of milk in the world, with 1,066 trained rural women (as at end 2008) in 594 villages trained as lady livestock workers. The point is that wherever you are in the world, the World Guide to CSR will prime you on what is most important to know about CSR. 58 countries are profiled in detailed analyses which contain a contextual country background, priority issues, trends, legislation and codes, organizations promoting CSR, key company case studies and educational establishments and programs. The book is headed up by 5 regional profiles of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East which draw out the regional key themes according to the same structure used for the local profiles. What more could you want?

The impressive list of contributors to this volume, 87 in all, are the crème de la crème of CSR knowledge and include leading academics, business people and practitioners from all over the global village. The country profiles are of a exceedingly high quality, offering a local flavor and sometimes even a little local language (tzedakah, the Hebrew word for charity; “sanpo yoshi” – “three-way good” in Japan; choregia, the ancient form of sponsorship in Greece; “ubuntu” in Southern Africa, which relates to community culture, to name but a few examples). The profiles are superbly edited to give consistency of scope and depth, country by country.

Why is this book useful? It serves as a start-point for any study of CSR anywhere in the world, as each profile contains an impressive list of links and references. It is a learning aid because the local case studies provide outlines of the key CSR activities by key corporates – the leading edge of CSR around the world. It serves as a guide for those wanting to develop their own CSR programs.

The only thing missing in this book? A list of socially responsible ice-cream parlors in each country.

Review by Elaine Cohen, Beyond Business Ltd.

Originally published on CSRwire.com on 13th August 2010

Tags: global CSR, nick tolhurst, wayne visser, world guide to csr
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