Roundtable suggests opportunity for Asia to overtake the West in sustainability [Press Releases]

A roundtable discussion, hosted by ACCA and facilitated by CSR Asia, identified a unique opportunity for Asia to overtake the West in terms of corporate disclosure.The Roundtable, which focused on the evolving corporate reporting concept of integrated reporting – an integrated representation of financial and non-financial performance of an organisation – suggested that instead of following the long-drawn-out route taken by Western organisations to arrive at integrated reporting, which entailed a protracted period of development in CSR (corporate social responsibility) reporting, Asian organisations could ‘leapfrog’ the process of producing separate annual and CSR reports, and instead embrace integrated reports now.

The Roundtable panel comprised some of Singapore’s key opinion leaders [see notes] and the discussion covered topics such as the linking management’s remuneration to sustainability performance, the challenges of integrated reporting, the role of accountants and sustainability professionals, the relevance of integrated reporting to investors, and the need to develop external assurance standards aligned to integrated reporting frameworks. The findings are summarised below: Read more

3 Key Lessons on CSR from Swedish Companies

One of the reasons for the success of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Sweden is that big Swedish companies are taking responsibility, because they understand that they have to build trust among stakeholders if they wish to continue doing business in the long run, and they also see CSR as a business opportunity.

What can Singapore companies learn from the businesses in Sweden? The following 4 Swedish companies – Swedbank, ICA, Scania and SEK, provide some lessons on embracing and implementing CSR, including 3 key lessons:

1. Understanding that CSR is a journey and not a destination
2. CSR must be integrated into the business
3. Follow international guidelines on CSR principles and reporting Read more

Learning from Sweden’s success and experience in embracing CSR

Sweden has the reputation of being a leader in actively promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR), and Swedish companies such as H&M, IKEA, Ericsson, ICA, Swedbank, and Scania are known to be leaders in sustainability and corporate responsibility.

The recent KPMG International Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey 2011 found that 95% of the 250 largest global companies has undertaken Corporate Responsibility reporting. This widespread adoption by top companies is encouraging, however, the survey also shows the difference in the level of reporting among the 3,400 companies across 34 countries.

For example, Sweden is one of the leading countries, with 72% of its top 100 companies now reporting on their corporate responsibility initiatives. On the other hand, there are countries lagging behind, such as Singapore with only 43% of its top 100 companies with corporate responsibility reporting.

Another previous Responsible Competitiveness Index ranking published in 2007 by AccountAbility ranks 108 countries on how they are performing in their efforts to promote responsible business practices. Sweden emerged as the top country while Singapore is number 15.

What can Singapore learn from Sweden’s success and experience in embracing CSR? It seems that Sweden’s success in CSR is mainly due to the government leading and coordinating, and big companies taking responsibility. The cultural context in Sweden could also helped to play a part. Read more

Making sustainability an ‘action item’ in boardrooms [News]

By The Business Times, 22 Nov 2011.

When the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB) was launched in 2009, it no doubt was considered by many to be an ambitious challenge that the government was setting for Singapore.

After all, the 10 goals outlined under the blueprint, set out to cover a relatively comprehensive range of activities and outcomes in four major areas, comprising: boosting resource efficiency; enhancing the urban environment; building capabilities and expertise in sustainable development solutions; and fostering community action.

Two years on, adjunct associate professor Bob Fleming of the National University of Singapore Business School, notes that there is ‘directional progress in an appreciation of the need for sustainability and the consequences for not achieving the targets’. Read more

Much progress made in sustainability in Asia [News]

By Mindy Tan, The Business Times, 15 Nov 2011.

Sustainability advocates are the first to admit, rather candidly, that the sustainability journey in Asia is one barely out of its infancy.

While that may be so, they are equally quick to point out that much progress has been made.

‘I definitely think companies in Singapore are more aware of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In fact, I don’t think there’s any room for companies to ignore it,’ says Jenny Costelloe, country director of CSR Asia (Singapore). ‘With SGX (Singapore Exchange) encouraging listed entities to produce CSR reports, there’s definitely heightened awareness.’

Noting that the way businesses operate can have long-term effects on the environment and society, and that global investors and other important stakeholders have called for companies to espouse sustainability and report on such initiatives, SGX released a policy statement and guide to sustainability reporting in June this year, part of a move to encourage ‘green reporting’. Read more

Still some way to go for sustainability reporting here: poll [News]

By Jamie Lee, The Business Times, 16 Nov 2011.

When it comes to corporate responsibility reporting, Singapore companies not only lag their global peers in numbers, they are also falling behind in certain standards, according to a KPMG survey.

Singapore was included for the first time in KPMG’s International Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey – a global study conducted once in three years that reviews the corporate responsibility reporting of the top 100 companies in 34 countries between mid- 2010 and mid-2011. More than 3,400 companies were surveyed.

Of the top 100 Singapore companies by revenue, just 43 offered reporting on their corporate responsibility, or matters relating to the environment, society or governance.

This puts Singapore among the bottom 20 per cent of the countries surveyed – a group that includes New Zealand and Chile, India and Israel – and offers a telling sign that Singapore needs to play catch-up, and fast. Read more

More top firms report on CR activities [News]

By Avelyn Ng, Channel NewsAsia, 14 Nov 2011.

Singapore: A report by KPMG has higlighted that corporate responsibility reporting among the top companies in the world is on the rise.

KPMG said corporate responsibility (CR) or sustainability reporting is now the norm with 95 per cent of Global Fortune 250 (G250) reporting on their CR activities.

According to its International Corporate Responsibility Reporting Survey 2011, this has also increased 15 per cent compared to the last reading in 2008.

Singapore has, however, lagged behind with only 43 per cent of respondents doing corporate reporting.

The survey sampled 16 sectors across 34 countries. Read more

Time for businesses to walk the talk on human rights

There has been a huge bit of hype over corporate citizenship and its onus to protect the rights of workers in the past few years. Corporate Social Responsibility and its corresponding voluntary ISO 26000 standard, includes human rights as one of the metrics for good corporate citizenship. This vocalic buzz is indeed positive for workers’ rights in general as the spotlight and accountability increases in these cases.

But the reports from the media regarding the rights of workers are not really all positive. We have had the Foxconn episode, with poor worker conditions in the factories which manufacture Apple products such as the iconic iPhone. ‘Sweatshop’ labor has been the norm in the textile industry for some time, while the sports goods industry is not a stranger as well in this discourse on worker protection. From workshops in Pakistan to Bangladesh to factories on the Chinese East Coast to Indonesia, workers’ rights are flouted without any batting of an eye lid as many a documentary has demonstrated. Read more

Driving innovation with strategic sustainability [News]

By Rachel Kelly, Channel NewsAsia, 27 Oct 2011.

Environmental sustainability may be the next mega trend for businesses when it comes to keeping one step ahead of the competition.

But one report said top level executives should not confuse Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting with strategic sustainability.

CSR reports may highlight things like the amount of paper a company has saved by recycling, fair employment policies, or even the training its security team has received, but what many do not include is how much the company may have saved or made through sustainable initiatives.

Dr David A. Lubin, Chairman of Esty Sustainability Network, said: “The research that we have done suggests that most companies are in what we would call a defensive position – they are trying to reduce their risks and reduce their cost of waste. And the minority is in an offensive situation – really using sustainability as a driver of innovation. And an even smaller percentage are using it as a defining concept of their brand.” Read more

NTUC FairPrice leads with more strategic approach through measured goals and indicators to track CSR contributions [Press Releases]

Singapore, 17 October 2011 – NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) today held its second Partners Convention where over 300 supply partners attended. Themed “CSR – The new norm for retail”, the half day convention focused on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and included new data from a consumer survey in Singapore. FairPrice also became the first supermarket and hypermarket chain in Singapore to declare its CSR measurable goals and targets as well as outline its strategic pillars.

FairPrice was established by the Labour Movement in 1973 to ensure that essential items were available to all Singaporeans at affordable prices during a time of economic and social turbulence. Through the years, FairPrice has remained true to its social mission through various initiatives to moderate the cost of living. While this social mission has remained its fundamental focus, it also recognises that there are other important aspects of CSR that it can contribute towards. Read more

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