CSR

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Ethical Supply Chain Summit 2008

Event: 16th Oct 2008 – 17th Oct 2008

The Ethical Supply Chain Summit 2008 is the largest in a long line of ethical procurement and sourcing conferences run by Ethical Corporation. Last years event, held in Amsterdam attracted 173 high level attendees from 21 different countries and this event looks to be even bigger!

Stakeholder Engagement - How to make it work for you

Event: 13th Oct 2008 – 14th Oct 2008

The message is clear: You must take stakeholder engagement seriously to survive as a business in this increasingly CSR-conscious world.The quote above, from research conducted by the IFC and SustainAbility, is a clear call to arms - and is the reason for the Stakeholder Engagement Summit 2008

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.

The 2nd Annual Corporate Responsibility Reporting and Communications Summit

Event: 25th Nov 2008 – 26th Nov 2008

Country: United Kingdom
City: London
Event website: The Annual Corporate Responsibility Reporting and Communications Summit
In the race to become the greenest, most sustainable company, corporate responsibility reporting is no longer optional. The focus is now on how you report and to whom – as shown by stakeholders’ ever increasing demand for sustainability reports to be both qualitative [...]

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.

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.

BusinessAssurance.com

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