| Corporate social responsibility in the Netherlands in 2007: everyone's in favour of it and everyone's talking about it but what is it and how can an organisation put it to work?
Since the 1970s corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been at the centre of international attention. Key milestones have been:
1972 Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
1987 'Our Common Future’ issued by the World Commission on Environment and Development
1992 Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro
2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
Sustainable development is defined as development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the needs of future generations. In effect, CSR implements sustainable development at company level whilst striking a balance between the three Ps of People, Planet and Profit.
In 2000, the Dutch Social and Economic Council (SER) adopted these principles in its groundbreaking advisory report "Corporate Social Responsibility, A Dutch Approach". It wrote: "If a company consciously works on all three dimensions of value creation, it is being socially responsible." CSR is a means to reduce the negative impact of external effects: the market forces companies to correct negative social impacts. It is also a means to strengthen positive external impacts. Companies profit from a good image, but society benefits from the social objectives set by the company.” The SER was in favour of a voluntary, non-statutory approach to CSR that the market itself could implement.
Corporate social responsibility has become a market in itself and a raft of interpretations and solutions has arisen to turn the words into action: Global Compact, OECD guidelines, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), ISO 26000, the Global Reporting Initiative, Carbon Disclosure Project, sectoral multi-stakeholder Round Tables for sustainable palm oil, soya, cocoa and sugar and quality standards such as Utz Certified, Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade and Organic. For a company that is moving from ‘business as usual’ towards sustainable development, it is challenge for it to see the wood for the trees and not to rest on its laurels.
Another consequence of the SER's report is the relatively strong focus on corporate image. In the food sector, too, commercial forces and risk avoidance are turning companies into socially responsible enterprises. Companies are opting for more sustainable product ranges, climate-neutral policies, innovative product development, partnerships and certification. In general, CSR still touches upon only a small part of an organisation's activities and its impact is uncertain. The Dutch government is also working on a clear vision of CSR. It is currently drawing up guidelines on sustainable procurement and will present an inter-ministerial vision of CSR at the beginning of next year. At the same time, the SER is working on an answer to globalisation and international trade. In the meantime, civil-society organisations and consumers are more concerned about animal welfare, health and the sustainability of international production chains.
And what should individual organisations be doing? In the short term, responding to the commercial opportunities as and when they arise is an option, but pro-actively searching for the deeper demands behind CSR and its relationship with sustainable development is a much more interesting proposition from a commercial point of view. The agenda and the milestones for the future are being set now. I would say, "Entrepreneurs, seize the opportunities!" Not only by working on CO2 neutral products but also by taking the lead along with the government, civil-society organisations and consumers to link CSR to sustainable development. Why? Because if they do not we will all still be working on CSR long after the trees have been cut down, the fish have passed into extinction and future generations have had to substantially lower their expectations. On the whole, there is just one business with many interests and commercial opportunities and a single common denominator: there is only one planet earth!
Anouk van Heeren
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