CSR news

ISO sends Social Responsibility Standard Draft to Committee

28th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released its Social Responsibility Standard to the committee stage, moving it one step closer to being an official ISO standard.
Nearly 400 experts and observers from around the world met at the ISO Social Responsibility Working Group, held September 1-5 in Santiago, Chile. There they agreed that sufficient progress had been made in developing the draft international standard on social responsibility for the “working draft” to be taken to “committee draft” level.

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Restoring Trust in CSR

26th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs

This video interview with Alan Knight offers insight into the new AA1000AS standard. The standard will be launched in London on the 24th of October.

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Auditors pay the price for Beijing Olympics

19th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs

The tightening of visa restrictions around the recent Olympic Games in Beijing has had unintended consequences on the Quality Assurance industry, according to this Ethical Corp article.
Global brands producing in China have been unable to secure the auditors needed at Chinese factories to ensure that the quality of their products is right. A major fall out will be that people who have talked about moving production to other countries for some time are now actually having to do it to meet deadlines.

Even if (and there are no guarantees) things return to normal in September, it will be too late for these firms who need to get gear on boats in October for the holidays.
Now many are scrambling to find capacity in Vietnam, Bangladesh, etc., while any number of Chinese garment manufacturers (two thirds of whom operate on margins of less than 1.5% already) will go under.
A number of companies with production runs already underway are having to stall or delay work as they cannot get visas for their Quality Assurance (QA) staff to enter China.

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Clarity and Transparency Needed for Green Claims

18th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs

Brands making green claims about their products need clarity on what they can and cannot say. This Ethical Corp. article highlights the difficulty for corporations in proving their green claims. The use of language, including sustainability and “low-carbon” were highlighted as terms that are difficult to prove and could potentially leave global brands open to criticism.

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Are Standards helping or hurting workers rights?

17th Sep 2008 by Alex Briggs

Two workers rights experts have held an insightful debate into Supply Chain standards and human rights for workers. Jeff Ballinger, academic, former union and NGO activist is clearly against standards as the end all solution for factory abuses, while Doug Cahn, consultant and formerly of Reebok, is in favour of standards and audits in bringing about change in supply chain factories around the globe.
This Ethical Corporation article features the full debate.

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Major manufacturers and retailers refine shipping and logistics operations to save energy costs

2nd Sep 2008

A survey just released by eyefortransport tells us what for most green-minded professionals seems obvious: High fuel prices are causing the country’s manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers to rethink their transportation strategies.

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Use the ‘Assure View’ report findings to benchmark your CSR activities

18th Aug 2008

You can use the findings from, ‘Assure View’ - The CSR Assurance Statement Report, to look through the many available assurance providers and to also assess the full picture by looking into the raw data.

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Create trust in your CSR strategy - get independent assurance

17th Aug 2008

CSR reporting has become a basic business expectation, the majority of CSR reports aren’t independently assured. This casts serious doubts on the role, meaning and reliability of these non-assured CSR reports,” the Assure View study says.

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When can we believe a CSR report? New report sheds light on

1st Aug 2008

A new report reveals previously unpublished information about a young but burgeoning
multi-million pound global industry operating at the heart of corporate trust: CSR report
assurance.
Assure View - The CSR Assurance Statement Report is the first report to offer an independent,
comprehensive overview of the field. The report outlines who uses assurance, who provides
assurance and what methods are […]

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Coca-Cola Enterprises releases 3rd CRS Report

1st Aug 2008

Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE), the world’s largest marketer, distributor, and producer of Coca-Cola products, has published its third company-wide Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CRS) Report, Shape Tomorrow…Today.

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