Most CSR programs are implemented either as a matter of good management practice or to atone for past bad behaviour, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Marketing investigating the motivations behind companies’ implementation of CSR programmes. The study examines 4,500 firms over a 19-year span. The researchers found that for many companies, investing in CSR because they think it is the right thing to do or a good move for the business pays off by improving the overall financial performance of the company. When looking at market-based measures of performance, firms that made decisions to incorporate these programs into their business strategies saw a boost. The study also reported that the implementation of CSR programs often correlates with instances of irresponsibility. Companies that are not already investing in CSR programs are likely to do so soon after the discovery or public revelation of corporate wrongdoing. (The Atlantic)
Policy
Obama bans oil drilling along Atlantic seaboard
The Obama administration has abandoned its plan for oil and gas drilling in Atlantic waters, after strong opposition from the Pentagon and coastal communities. The announcement from Sally Jewell, the interior secretary, to bar drilling across the length of the mid-Atlantic seaboard reverses Obama’s decision just a year ago to open up the east coast to oil and gas exploration. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida will remain off-limits for drilling until 2022 because of coastal communities’ concerns about risks to their fishing and tourist industries from oil and gas spills, and warnings from the navy about interference with its systems. “With the offshore Atlantic now closed to new exploration, it is hard to see where growth for big oil in North America is going to come from. Unimaginable even a few years ago, we are now seeing the beginning of the end of the oil age,” Greenpeace said in a statement. (Guardian)
Zero carbon emissions target to be enshrined in UK law
The UK will enshrine in law a long-term goal of reducing its carbon emissions to zero, as called for in last year’s historic Paris climate deal. “The government believes that we will need to take the step of enshrining the Paris goal for net zero emissions in UK law. The question is not whether but how we do it,” energy minister Andrea Leadsom told parliament, responding to former Labour leader Ed Miliband’s call to put the target into law. The UK is already legally bound by the Climate Change Act to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050. The final 20 percent is seen as the most difficult to cut. “It is the right thing to do because the science demands it, it makes economic sense and will build momentum in the fight against climate change,” said Miliband. (edie)
Reporting
Report: 81 percent of S&P 500 companies published sustainability reports in 2015
The latest annual monitoring and analysis of S&P 500 Index companies by the Governance & Accountability Institute has found that 81 percent of S&P 500 companies published a sustainability or corporate responsibility report in 2015. The practice of reporting by the 500 large US companies is now holding steady with minor increases year-after-year. “Corporate reporters have also become more sophisticated in the disclosure and reporting activities, with an increased focus on using reporting concepts such as materiality, stakeholder engagement, comparability, balance, context, timeliness, and reliability to make ESG data more strategically useful for decision making by both management and stakeholders including investors, ” said Louis D. Coppola, Executive VP of G&A Institute. (Governance and Accountability Institute)
Corporate Reputation
Grocery Manufacturers of America found guilty of money laundering in GMO campaign
A superior court judge found the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) guilty of acting to conceal the names of companies that donated to a controversial campaign to oppose legislation that would have required the labelling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMO) in Washington in 2013. According to the summary ruling, the GMA, the voice of more than 300 leading food, beverage and consumer product companies, was found guilty of violating Washington state’s public campaign finance laws when it accepted $14 million in donations from its members for its “Defense of Brands fund” and then donated $11 million to its “No on 522” campaign without disclosing the original donors. The funds were used to lobby against proposed legislation (Initiative 522) that would have required GMO labelling. (Triple Pundit)
COMMENTS