The Sustainability Learning Forum

Exploring Sustainable Biofuels for Aviation

Pauline Lacroix, Air France and Jacqueline Houweling, KLM
AIR FRANCE KLM

Air France - KLM considers the transition from fossil fuels to renewables as a priority to ensure the future of commercial aviation. The Group’s strategy is to explore the entire value chain, from research to commercialization, and to set an example for the rest of the industry. Partnerships are important to accelerate the development of a market for sustainable biofuels. more[...]

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ACCIONA Exports Sustainability

Juan Ramón Silva Ferrada, Acciona
Acciona

ACCIONA’s business model is tightly linked to sustainability. ACCIONA’s 2015 Sustainability Master Plan states that each new international project must be backed up by a social impact assessment. The point is to ensure respectful and efficient interaction with local communities, mitigate risks, and improve the company’s relationships with the communities where it operates. As a flagship of ACCIONA’s commitment to the local residents of project areas, one could do no better than to look to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the company has four wind farms, and to Brisbane, Australia, where ACCIONA is participating in the construction and operation of the Legacy Way Tunnel. more[...]

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How High Is Sustainability on the European Policy Agenda?

Elena Mocanu

Faced with economies still struggling to make ends meet, the European Union’s take on sustainability relies heavily on fundamental industry makeovers for signs of economic recovery. more[...]

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Where does CSR begin? Where does it end?

Dr. Elmer Lenzen

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become firmly established in the business lexicon. Although some conversation partners still need to be reminded of what CSR really is and why it is important, most of them understand its value by now. Indeed, this leads to many different expectations for CSR, such that discussions around it today are shifting toward putting limits on the term and creating rules around it. Where does CSR begin? Where does it end? more[...]

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Saquib, Syed Najmus

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Islam, Yashna

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Responsible Lobbying

Dr Stephanos Anastasiadis, Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Sigrun M. Wagner, Royal Holloway, University of London

Lobbyists paying elected representatives to place questions in the UK parliament. Arms manufacturers giving South African officials BMWs in exchange for armaments contracts. Smoke-filled back rooms featuring stuffed brown envelopes. No wonder lobbying has a bad name. But these are not images of lobbying: They depict corruption, albeit in a policymaking setting. These actions are morally suspect and usually illegal. They also contravene the UN Global Compact: Principle 10 requires the combating of corruption. In fact, lobbying is far more often about committee meetings, reports, and other unspectacular activities. Lobbying can be understood as the focused provision of relevant information, with the intention of influencing public policy or process. Corporate lobbying is not just important for companies; it helps create better public policies, and can therefore have real societal value, despite its bad press. more[...]

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Managing Corporate Legitimacy and the UN Global Compact

Dr. Dorothée Baumann-Pauly, University of Zürich
Prof. Andreas Georg Scherer, University of Zurich

Corporations can no longer easily control their public image by means of public relations and marketing. Clearly defined corporate reporting requirements, rigorous third-party monitoring processes, and multiple media resources of watchdog organizations help to shed light on actual business practices. The increased transparency with regard to corporate conduct has also enabled a larger and more diverse group of corporate stakeholders to voice opinions and formulate demands. In particular, large brand name companies in sensitive consumer goods industries (like food or textiles) are now constantly under public scrutiny. For corporations, this situation creates new management challenges. To ensure the social acceptance of their business (corporate legitimacy), heterogeneous and often contradictory stakeholder demands need to be managed. more[...]

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The Strength of Loose Couplings – The UN Global Compact as a Multistakeholder Initiative

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

Multistakeholder initiatives such as the UN Global Compact organize their participants in specific ways. Most importantly, they have to bridge global (universal) principles and local (contextualized) implementation practices. Some initiatives have responded to this need by creating a nested network structure – that is, local networks that are embedded into a wider global “network of networks.” The UN Global Compact, for instance, has more than 100 local networks, which are connected through regional hubs, the Annual Local Network Forum, and interactions with the Global Compact Office. Stakeholder dialogue and collective action are emerging both within and among such networks. more[...]

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CSR in South Africa

Editorial Team

Professor Ralph Hamann is Research Director for the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. His areas of expertise include Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility. In 2006 he was involved as a researcher at the UN Global Compact Learning Forum, which took place in Ghana. For the UN Global Compact International Yearbook, Hamann highlights the “paradox for CSR in South Africa” and beyond. more[...]

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Massive Open Online Courses

A comprehensive list of free Masive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by the best universities and entities. more[...]

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Stakeholder Management – An Introduction

Klaus Lintemeier, Lintemeier Stakeholder Relations
Prof Lars Rademacher, MHMK Munich
Dr Ansgar Thiessen, Knobel Corporate Communications

The landscape of business and enterprise policy is subject to almost unparalleled change. An ever-increasing majority of corporate and institutional management boards find themselves operating in a networked world of interests and opportunities for influence. In addition to primary stakeholders such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, and employees, secondary and tertiary stakeholder groups are increasingly making regulatory, social, political, and ethical demands on businesses. more[...]

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Which Form of Dialogue Is Suitable for Which Purpose?

Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

A broad distinction can be made between stakeholder dialogues that are geared toward consultation and those that focus more strongly on cooperation during implementation. In consultative stakeholder dialogues, actors contribute their expertise, viewpoints, and experience. Initiators of the stakeholder dialogue are usually responsible for the further use of recommendations and lessons learned. Consultative and cooperative forms of stakeholder dialogues subsume the following variants: more[...]

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Responsible Lobbying

Dr Stephanos Anastasiadis, Royal Holloway, University of London
Dr Sigrun M. Wagner, Royal Holloway, University of London

Lobbyists paying elected representatives to place questions in the UK parliament. Arms manufacturers giving South African officials BMWs in exchange for armaments contracts. Smoke-filled back rooms featuring stuffed brown envelopes. No wonder lobbying has a bad name. But these are not images of lobbying: They depict corruption, albeit in a policymaking setting. These actions are morally suspect and usually illegal. They also contravene the UN Global Compact: Principle 10 requires the combating of corruption. more[...]

The Author

The Strength of Loose Couplings – The UN Global Compact as a Multistakeholder Initiative

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

Multistakeholder initiatives such as the UN Global Compact organize their participants in specific ways. Most importantly, they have to bridge global (universal) principles and local (contextualized) implementation practices. Some initiatives have responded to this need by creating a nested network structure – that is, local networks that are embedded into a wider global “network of networks.” The UN Global Compact, for instance, has more than 100 local networks, which are connected through regional hubs, the Annual Local Network Forum, and interactions with the Global Compact Office. Stakeholder dialogue and collective action are emerging both within and among such networks. more[...]

The Author

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