ISO standard on social responsibility

February 1, 2007

ISO standard on social responsibility

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is developing an international standard on social responsibility (ISO 26000). The voluntary standard will augment existing public and private initiatives and help organizations address their social responsibilities by:

Developing an international consensus on what SR means and the SR issues that organizations need to address,
Providing guidelines on translating principles into effective actions, and
Distilling the best practice that has already evolved and disseminating it worldwide for the good of the international community.

ISO and the United Nations Global Compact have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the development of ISO 26000. The reputation and credibility of ISO could encourage organizations to embrace social responsibility and incorporate it in core business strategies. ISO 26000 is currently targeted for publication in late 2008.

March 16, 2007

More companies reporting on sustainable performance

A study by the Social Investment Research Analysts Network (SIRAN) finds that an increasing number of the largest public companies in the U.S. are reporting on their environmental and social performance. Key findings include: Nearly 80% of the companies comprising the S&P 100 Index have special sections of their websites dedicated to sharing information about…

March 16, 2007

The Greening of Electronics

A Green Scorecard Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics is a quarterly ranking of 14 major PC and mobile phone companies. In the December 2006 ranking, Nokia and Dell are at the top of the pack with Apple bringing up the rear. The ranking reflects which of these companies are doing the most to remove toxic…

February 8, 2007

S&P 500 Companies Faulted For Poor Climate Disclosure

Despite growing financial losses in various business sectors from climate change, over half of the nation’s 500 largest publicly traded companies are doing a poor job of disclosing climate change risks to their investors, according to a first-ever report analyzing climate disclosure practices among S&P 500 companies last year. The Ceres/Calvert report concludes that America’s…