The Sustainability Learning Forum

The Power of Voluntarism

Dr. Elmer Lenzen

In today’s corporate responsibility debate, so-called soft laws are omnipresent. They seem to be the best solution to combine a maximum of social responsibility with a minimum of public interference. Their rise is closely connected with the age of globalization. more[...] login_required

The Author

CSR-Management

Editorial Team

more[...] login_required

The Author

The Human Rights and Business Dilemma

Verisk Maplecroft
United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

Human rights have traditionally been the concern of states, and international human rights law has generally been addressed to them only. As more companies come to realize their legal, moral, and/or commercial need to address human rights issues within their own operations and activities, they are confronted with a number of challenges. Businesses will have to come to grips with the human rights framework and assess how their activities may relate to it. Moreover, companies are often uncertain how to avoid complicity in human rights abuses and where, in practical terms, the boundaries of their human rights responsibility lie. more[...] login_required

The Author

Betting On Environmental Sustainability and Balance

Editorial Team

ISA is the biggest energy transport company in Colombia and also present in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and throughout Central America. Through its affiliates and subsidiaries, the company conducts a range of activities such as design, construction, administration, operation of lineal infrastructure systems in electricity, telecommunications connectivity, and highway construction with the project Autopistas de la Montaña. more[...] login_required

The Author

Betting On Environmental Sustainability and Balance

Ana María Naranjo, ISA
Jimena Maria Toro, ISA

ISA is the biggest energy transport company in Colombia and also present in Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and throughout Central America. Through its affiliates and subsidiaries, the company conducts a range of activities such as design, construction, administration, operation of lineal infrastructure systems in electricity, telecommunications connectivity, and highway construction with the project Autopistas de la Montaña. more[...]

The Author

European Commission backs ISO 26000

The ISO International Standard ISO 26000 is one of the three documents being recommended by the European Commission (EC) on guidance for European enterprises to fulfil their commitment to social responsibility. more[...] login_required

The Author

Fostering CSR – Contract Seating Manufacturer Kusch+Co

Ferdinand Filusch, Kusch & Co

This Sauerland-based family business offers convincing proof that traditional values can harmoniously coexist with a modern commitment to mankind and to nature. Corporate social responsibility is an intrinsic pillar of Kusch+Co’s corporate strategy. more[...] login_required

The Author

PUMAVision 2011

Dr. Reiner Hengstmann, Puma
Stefan D. Seidel, Puma

As part of PUMAVision – PUMA’s sustainability concept – and in line with its mission to become the most desirable and sustainable Sportlifestyle company, PUMA introduced the sustainability scorecard in 2010 to achieve its ambitious environmental targets by 2015. The scorecard lists targets for a 25 percent reduction in energy and water usage as well as climate and waste emissions by 2015 compared to 2010. more[...] login_required

The Author

The Value of Improved Community Awareness

Sibel Bekler, AKSA

AKSA, a leading manufacturer of acrylic and carbon fibers in the world, has initiated a Community Advisory Panel comprised of about 45 representatives of municipal mayors, village elders, teachers, local authorities, and students selected from the villages in the vicinity of the facility. Since 2001, biannual or more frequent Community Advisory Panel meetings are held to assess and evaluate the coexistence of AKSA with the community, including issues of environmental, health, and safety performance of the facility as seen from the eyes of the public. more[...] login_required

The Author

Corporate Responsibility Standards

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

This paper discusses so-called corporate responsibility standards (e.g., the Global Reporting Initiative and Social Accountability 8000) from the perspective of post-structuralist philosophy, in particular Derridian thinking. I introduce these different initiatives and contrast them against each other. Next, I offer a discussion of their limits in general, and their paradoxical nature in particular. I conclude with a variety of practical recommendation suggesting that, while corporate responsibility standards can potentially offer good managerial guidance they are also flawed in a variety of ways. more[...]

The Author

Blueprints for Change – The Sustainability Imperative

Susanne Stormer, Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk

50 – 50 – 50. By 2050 there will be 50 percent more people in the world, and we will have been responsible for reducing global carbon emissions by 50 percent. A seemingly simple equation, yet a tall challenge. It makes it painfully clear that sustainable development hinges on our ability to manage growth sustainably and not only make up for the harm we inflict on the global ecosystem, but also to effectively decouple economic value creation from environmental degradation and social inequality. more[...] login_required

The Author

PUMAVision

Dr. Reiner Hengstmann, Puma
Stefan D. Seidel, Puma

2009 was an eventful and challenging year – not only for PUMA but also for the world economy and the Sportlifestyle industry as a whole. The impacts of the financial crisis were felt globally and did not spare PUMA. At the same time, sincere criticism toward unsustainable, short-term financial business models and serious concerns about global warming called not only for a stronger emphasis on concepts of sustainable development within our societies but also for individual industries and single corporations. more[...] login_required

The Author

Corporate Social Responsibility – A Philosophy of Life

María del Rosario García, Mutualista Pichincha
Soledad Burbano, Mutualista Pichincha

For Mutualista Pichincha, corporate social responsibility and the Ten Principles of the Global Compact go far beyond the realm of traditional institutional and professional behavior. They constitute a way of life and a new manner of doing things in all aspects of our entrepreneurship. They must become the engine that drives all our actions at work and at home; with our children, friends, and colleagues; on the streets as well as during public events and all of our daily activities. more[...] login_required

The Author

Big Changes Start Small

Julija Dietrich, Deutsche Telekom

Large business corporations are expected to assume ecological and social responsibility and to adopt sustainable business practices. Deutsche Telekom has been fulfilling this expectation for many years and, in September 2009, began to extend its radius of action to the environment and society and to actively involve customers through its communication campaign for sustainability. more[...]

The Author

Sustainability Straight to Your Mobile

Christine C. Schneider, Henkel

The growth in world population and the steady increase in the average standard of living call for a radical reassessment of our production methods and consumption patterns. To drive change in the laundry detergent and household cleaners sector, we draw on our many years of experience and our leading role in the field of sustainability. more[...] login_required

The Author

Advanced Search