New German Policy Paper on CSR – Recommendations to Government and Business
21.10.2006
The high rank German Council for Sustainable Development has prepared recommendations for the German government and trade and industry regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), These recommendations list the next steps for advancing the corporate policy of sustainability development.
The recommendations of the council are full of interesting views and suggestions and are definitely worth reading also with regard to other countries.
Organising CSR: From Environmental Management to Sustainable Corporate Governance?
20.06.2006
The study gives an introduction on how CSR can be organised systematically. For the management of CSR companies and research refer to environmental management systems and corporate governance. Both have been analysed in a first step.
In an e-mail survey among a selection of large German companies elements, drivers and existing solutions for a systematic management of CSR were identified. The results and conclusions where discussed in a workshop with German CSR experts.
The German Council for Sustainable Development (Rat für Nachhaltige
Entwicklung) has prepared a draft policy paper with recommendations to
promote CSR. The recommendations adress the German government and business(trade and industry).
The recommendations list the next steps for promoting corporate policy towards CSR and sustainable development.
The draft is being submitted for discussion. The Council members will meet for a final consultation following a public dialogue phase lasting till May 2006.
By the way, we are happy that in this paper 4sustainability is labeled as
a relevant research institute in the field of CSR.
for more english information and the download follow the link below.
New Project: Promotion of Sustainability Reporting
28.11.2005
We are happy to announce a new project. Together with Borderstep (Hannover) and Adelphi (Berlin) we will develop two instruments promoting sustainability reporting. One task of the project is a manual describing how to write sustainability reports based on EMAS environmental statements. The other task is an evaluation on how German companies react on the new company law HGB §315, which requires to report on relevant social and environmental issues in the annual report of stock listed companies. Further information to the project will be available in 2006.
Pleon survey on Sustainability Reporting with a Comment from Loew and Clausen
09.09.2005
This week Pleon has presented its Global Staekholder Report 2005. In cooperation with Jens Clausen we contributed with a comment on Pleon´s theses. The comment is included in the study.
Our stakeholder survey for WestLB is published now
09.09.2005
The WestLB has published its first sustainability report. For its conception and the further development of the bank´s sustainability strategy 4sustainability interviewed relevant stakeholders in spring 2005.
Interesting aspects turned out: In the past the bank was repeatedly critisized amongst others for it´s involvement in a controversial pipeline Project. However the interviewees perceive crucial changing processes. They hope for a positive development to a greater consideration for sustainability aspects in the financial institute´s core business.
Together with the sustainability report the analysis of the survey is now published.
Draft Assurance Standard for Sustainability Reports released
17.08.2005
The German accountants have now published their draft assurance standard IDW PS 821 for sustainability reports.
Already in spring 2005 the Institute for Sustainability and IÖW evaluated the relevance of assurance engagements and assurance statements in sustainability reports. In the final report from Clausen and Loew (2005) relevant assurance standards such as ISAE 3000, AA 1000, the German IDW PS 820 (for environmental reports) and the now published Draft IDW PS 821 are described and compared to each other.
The authors come to several conclusions. E.g. they argue that credibility of a sustainability report can be achieved in different ways so external assurance of a sustainability report can be only one several factors. So external assurance of the sustainability report is not compelling to achieve credibility. On the other hand there are different types of assurance processes, with different benefits for the sustainability performance of the company. Hence credibility is not necessarily the only benefit of assurance engagement and in case a company seeks external verification of its report it is important to select the suitable standard or assurance process.
The report Clausen J, Loew T (2005) Mehr Glaubwürdigkeit durch Testate? Internationale Analyse des Nutzens von Testaten in der Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung Berlin is available in the German Download section on this Website. „More...“ leads you to the English version of the draft Standard
German Ranking of Sustainability Reports - English Summary now available
09.05.2005
The German ranking of sustainability reports is a follow up of former rankings of environmental reports carried out in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000. The methodology applied in the new sustainability ranking considers social and environmental requirements with equal weight. For evaluating the reports 48 different criteria were used. The requirements fit to the GRI Guidelines but give less attention to indicators.
In the ranking all (=53) sustainability reports of the largest 150 German companies were considered. The best report in the ranking is the Sustainability Report from Henkel. The results of the ranking were published in the German business magazin Capital.
The full results of the ranking and an analysis of strengths, weaknesses and developments of sustainability reporting are documented in the report:
“Sustainability Reporting in Germany: Summary of the Results and Trends of the 2005 Ranking” by Jens Clausen, Thomas Loew and Udo Westermann.
We have published a discussion paper which collects the statements on the results of the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR (EMS-Forum) from participating stakeholders such as NGO´s and Business associations, from the EU and from science. Most of the statements are available at the website of EU DG Employment and Social affairs, but they are difficult to find and it requires a lot of downloading.
The first contribution from the editor is a scientific analysis of the final report of the EMS forum. It shows among other, that the recommendations of the EMS-Forum do not appropriately reflect its analysis of barriers and drivers to CSR. And furthermore it turns out, that many remommendations can be transformed into a CSR management system. (Sorry, this chapter is written in German).
Thomas Loew (ed.) Comments on the Results of the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR, Berlin 2005
Until the download is provided, please send us an e-mail (info@4sustainability.org) and we will forward the pdf.
Please note: We expect a new EU-communication on CSR by summer 2005.
