Corporate Social Responsibility drive to be ramped up; greater focus on youth [Press Releases]

Tertiary students work with SMEs in new Young CSR Leaders Award

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which has moved on to the next leg with a 60 per cent increase in the number of organisations adopting this principle over the past two years, will now place a greater focus on youth to lay down a CSR foundation for the future.

Singapore Compact for CSR, the national organisation charged with promoting CSR, will place a strong emphasis on youth alongside with business organisations as it ramps up its awareness drive and training programmes to push the movement forward at a fast pace.

A highlight is the launch of a new initiative, the CDL-Singapore Compact Young CSR Leaders Award, which involves tertiary students working with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to help analyse and implement CSR programmes and practices among these businesses. Singapore Compact’s existing CSR awards introduced in 2010 are for business organisations. Read more

International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2011 [Events]

Insights from a Green Champion’s CSR Journey

With concerted government and private-sector efforts towards environmental sustainability in Singapore and across the globe, the green sector has grown considerably in prominence and company practices. With this comes various ways of measuring, understanding, and of course recognising efforts by companies which invest considerable effort into this aspect of corporate social responsibility, or CSR.

One example of this is the Singapore Compact CSR Awards, launched in 2010 in various categories for different aspects of CSR. To understand and learn from a local company’s CSR journey, Green Business Times spoke to Ms Esther An, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), City Developments Limited (CDL), winner of the inaugural Singapore Compact CSR Green Champion Award. Read more

Singapore firms lag in green reporting [News]

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) may not be a foreign concept to Singapore companies but it appears that articulating CSR policies and activities still isn’t common practice here.

Singapore firms are seen lagging their regional peers in sustainability reporting. But accounting professionals and CSR lobbyists believe that this gap should narrow as efforts to spur ‘green reporting’ gather speed.

Thomas Thomas, executive director of Singapore Compact, a multi-stakeholder platform that promotes CSR, notes that with more stock exchanges globally requiring listed companies to issue sustainability reports, there has been an increase in sustainability reporting among companies here, particularly those with overseas businesses. Read more

Singapore Companies Honoured at Inaugural CSR Awards

At the International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2010, Singapore Compact announced the winners of the inaugural CSR Awards, to honour the companies’ best practices in CSR. Out of the 58 entries submitted, five local companies were chosen as winners in five different categories while two other companies received Special Mention.

Speaking on the awards, Mr Seah Kian Peng, Vice-President of Singapore Compact for CSR said: “The response for the awards this year has been very good. The judges discussed the various nominations very thoroughly before arriving at their decision. We feel that this award is a good way to motivate people to improve their CSR performance. We need leaders and innovators to lead the way in CSR, and to improve on what has been done. For future years’ awards, we will fine tune the criteria for selection to align to changing expectations of the community and other stakeholders.” Read more

More Companies Embrace CSR in Singapore

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is gaining traction among the companies in Singapore. This is evident from the significant increase in companies joining the Singapore Compact for CSR, a tripartite body charged with promoting CSR in Singapore. Its membership grew 42% from 239 last September to 341 this year. There is also an increase in sustainability reporting using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, from zero companies in 2007 to more than 20 currently.

Singapore Compact explains that CSR is picking up in Singapore due to several reasons. The public are increasingly looking at companies’ environmental and social responsibility, and more consumers are expecting companies to be ethical. Companies are also starting to understand that CSR makes good business sense as it enhances their credibility, increases their employee retention, attracts global talent, and helps them better address environmental concerns. Read more

International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2010

International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2010

This timely summit organized by the Singapore Compact for CSR brings together experts from various sectors to discuss on how to plan, measure, and implement CSR strategies for sustainable business success.

The Inaugural International Singapore Compact CSR Summit of last year was a great success, attracting about 400 delegates from multinational corporations, small and medium enterprises, unions, government, academia and the general public.

Let’s join other business leaders, CSR professionals and many other stakeholders to hear and learn from the experts, local and overseas, to address the following challenges:-

HOW TO PLAN     |     HOW TO MEASURE     |     HOW TO IMPLEMENT

• How can my organisation make CSR an effective strategy for sustainable business success?
• How can my organisation keep pace with the ever changing energy challenge?
• How government policies shape along with the global impetus?
• How can my organisation effectively respond to the global trends which affect my organisation?
• How can I measure my organisation’s response to the climate change challenge and sustainability developments?
• How is the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) relevant to my organisation and where shall I start with?
• How can I measure the social impact of my organsiation?
• How can I start with my first sustainability report with a universally accepted standard?
• What are the cost and time-effective ways to do sustainability reporting?

*Fees reflected above are based on per delegate.

Please visit www.singaporecsrsummit.org for more information about the International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2010.

For registration, please download the form from http://www.singaporecsrsummit.org/registration.php and fax the completed form to 6471 1278.

Please feel free to contact Mr Cedric Miranda or Ms Fion Tsang at 6827 6825, or email to enquiry@singaporecsrsummit.org for any enquiries or the sponsorship opportunity for the International Singapore Compact CSR Summit 2010.

New Book on CSR for Sustainability and Success

The new book “CSR for Sustainability and Success” by Singapore Compact was launched during the International Singapore Compact CSR Summit held last week. The book features the CSR journey and experiences of 10 local and global companies with operations in Singapore.

The 10 companies (listed below) are in the following industries: food and beverage, retail, financial services, telecommunications, property development and management, construction, steel and energy.

• Cerebos Pacific Limited
• Citi
• City Developments Limited
• Holcim (Singapore) Pte Ltd
• NatSteel Holdings Pte Ltd
• NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Limited
• PowerSeraya Ltd
• SembCorp Industries Limited
• Shell Group of Companies
• Singapore Telcommunications Limited

In the book, each company shares its insight on adopting CSR – the company’s motivation, process, programmes, results, impacts, challenges and opportunities during the CSR journey. The business case for CSR was mentioned by the companies and they find that CSR provides business opportunities and is critical to business success.

The book also highlights 3 key challenges and suggests what can be done for each challenge:

1. Getting Started

Companies may face a lack of understanding and knowledge on CSR, lack of interest within the organisation and by stakeholders, and also resource constraints to get started.

Some solutions:

• Form a cross-functional CSR working group with commitment and leadership from top management
• Refer to relevant national programmes and policies, and what other companies are doing in the same industry
• Define what is important to the company and stakeholders, and form clear targets and milestones
• Discuss and develop the CSR policy and strategy at the department and group levels

2. Operationalising CSR

Companies may find it difficult to translate vision and mission into CSR policies and actions throughout the company and stakeholders.

Some solutions:

• Require top management to lead, drive change and be role models
• Ensure perseverance to embed policies and practices across the organisation
• Have clear roles and responsibility and a reporting structure
• Include tools, policies and processes for stakeholders to act
• Include measures and channels to communicate and engage with stakeholders

3. Sustaining the CSR Journey

Companies may find it difficult to maintain management commitment, employee awareness and buy-in, meet the needs and expectations of diverse stakeholders, ensuring focused efforts and measuring impacts.

Some solutions:

• Emphasize the importance of ongoing engagement and sharing of info among employees and stakeholders
• Educate, involve and empower stakeholders in the CSR and sustainability journey

If your company or organisation is starting on your CSR journey, this book gives useful examples and case studies on CSR strategies, policies and practices based on the Singapore context.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Singapore: Awareness and Implementation

The awareness and implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Singapore has been increasing over the past four years since the formation of the Singapore Compact, a national society promoting CSR in Singapore.

What is CSR? Some companies associate CSR with charity and philanthropy, but CSR actually goes beyond that. According to Singapore Compact:

Corporate Social Responsibility is essentially about businesses doing well and doing good at the same time. CSR is about the long term strategy of aligning business strategy and operations with universal values to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes for customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities, other stakeholders and as well as the environment.

Through the implementation of CSR, companies can reap benefits and improve profits. Mr Koh Juan Kiat, Vice-President of Singapore Compact and Executive Director of Singapore National Employers’ Federation explains:

Adopting CSR brings intangible benefits such as a good reputation for the company, high morale among employees and improved performance and attracts investors. Employees will also take greater pride in their company and this will affect productivity.

In 2008, survey findings by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) show that out of the 507 Singapore-based enterprises surveyed, 40% of the respondents were aware of the term CSR. Of the CSR-aware respondents, two-thirds have implemented CSR activities.

To date, 240 organisations have joined Singapore Compact and are implementing CSR practices. These organisations include large corporations, SMEs, co-operatives, unions, federations and NGOs. In addition, 70 companies have signed up as signatories to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) network in Singapore.

Despite the growing awareness and implementation, CSR in Singapore is still in its infant stage and more needs to be done. As such, Singapore Compact will hold an inaugural International Singapore Compact CSR Summit from 6 to 7 October at Orchard Hotel. The conference will cover topics such as:

• CSR and the Community: The Role of Corporate Foundations
• CSR Global Trends
• CSR: Strategy for Sustainability and Success
• Investor’s Perspectives on CSR
• CSR and Sustainable Development – The Environment and Beyond
• CSR – what can be done?

This is a good and timely opportunity for your company to understand more about CSR and how to implement CSR in your organisation. Visit http://csrsummit.csrsingapore.org/ for details and registration.

Interview with Thomas Thomas, Executive Director, Singapore Compact for CSR

This interview with Thomas Thomas, Executive Director, Singapore Compact for CSR, is submitted by the organisers of the International Singapore Compact CSR Summit.

1. What are your hopes for International Singapore Compact CSR Summit that will be taking place from 6-7 October 2009 at Orchard Hotel?

I hope that there will be a surge in CSR awareness and implementation in Singapore and this will in turn act as an impetus for the region. The ideas and discussions leading from the Summit will motivate and ingrain the values and principles of CSR. It will result in better managed companies that take into account the interest of stakeholders and a better world for all. Read more

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