Corporate Citizenship

International Women’s Day is here again, reminding us of women’s role in society. Like every year, we will hear that little progress has been achieved: women only represent 3.6% of FTSE100 executive directors, and their salaries are still 17% lower than men.
However, this year, the gender agenda seems to be making an interesting come-back. It [...]

This time, it’s about consumers, ‘co-creation’ and ‘crowd-sourcing’… A clever marketing strategy/wheeze through which brands keep their consumers emotionally attached (and financially committed) by inviting them to ‘co-create’ new ideas for products and services.. Can’t fault the basic logic of this approach..an enthusiastic pipeline of free ideas that could potentially generate new markets and make [...]

The recent announcement by Nestle that it will only use certified sustainable palm oil is the latest in a number of high-profile pledges from multinational companies. Cadbury is now using Fairtrade cocoa in some of its products and the majority of cartons produced by Tetra Pak in the UK and Ireland can be made from [...]

We all know climate change has been a headline issue for a number of years. Despite this, it is fair to say that a climate change strategy – no doubt to the exasperation of many a sustainability manager – has been viewed by and large as a ‘nice to have’ by senior executives, rather than [...]

The UK’s Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change concluded in its first annual report in October that a “step change” was needed in the pace of emissions reductions in order to meet Government’s targets. Although the economic recession has helped dampen emissions, the UK does not appear to be on track to meet its longstanding 20% [...]

In the US, notwithstanding gains made by natural gas in the last decade, coal is still king. Approximately 49% of US electricity is powered by coal, down only 2% in the last 10 years despite the lower marginal cost of additional gas-fired generating capacity, and a number of initiatives at a state and federal levels [...]

Last month the CEO of ASDA spoke of the dawning of a new shopping experience. ‘There will be no ‘behind the scenes’ he said.  Carrot cams and cow-cams will reveal all about the way in which our food is produced and we will have the power to decide if we buy (or not) according to [...]

Several stories this month highlight the difficulty of eliminating the risk of malpractice from complex global supply chains. 
Illegal dumping of factory waste or use of leather linked to Amazon destruction seems a million miles away – both literally and figuratively – from the values and commitments held aloft by companies such as Gap or Nike. [...]

I went to an event the other evening, entitled ‘Many Heavens, One Earth: Faiths, the Environment, and Copenhagen’.  Oops. In light of various pronouncements in the past 24 hours that ‘the Deal is dead, long live the Deal’.. perhaps putting Copenhagen in the same sentence as ‘faith’ and ‘environment’ might have been a tad optimistic! 
Nonetheless, [...]

The debate has raged over whether ‘ethical spend’ is taking a hit now that we’re in a recession.  For every statistic that suggests it will (or is), another can be found to suggest the opposite is the case.  Witness headlines in both the Guardian and The Times in the same week last month:  From the [...]