Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
What CSR is and its three pillars, the ISO 26000 standard and its seven core subjects, the French and European framework, and how to tell a proven commitment from a greenwashing claim.
- 26 cards
- 4 topics
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Corporate social responsibility: what is it?
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Companies' voluntary contribution to sustainable development: taking social, environmental and economic stakes and their stakeholders' expectations into account in their activities.
CSR goes beyond legal compliance, but several of its components are now made mandatory by law.
CSR differs from mere legal compliance because it…
- …goes beyond legal obligations, on the company's own initiative
- …replaces legal obligations with voluntary commitments of its choosing
- …concerns only listed companies
- …applies only to the environment
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…goes beyond legal obligations, on the company's own initiative
It adds to the law without replacing it, and concerns every size of company and every pillar. A growing part of it has however become mandatory.
The duty of … law requires very large companies to establish and publish a … plan that prevents serious harm to human rights and the environment.
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The duty of vigilance law requires very large companies to establish and publish a vigilance plan that prevents serious harm to human rights and the environment.
The plan covers the activities of the company, its subsidiaries, its subcontractors and its suppliers with which it has an established commercial relationship.
The three pillars of CSR: what is it?
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The economic, social and environmental dimensions, which the company must reconcile rather than aiming only at profit.
A choice may be good on one pillar and costly on another: the approach is to make these trade-offs explicit.
A hosting company advertises "green hosting" with no supporting document. What is needed for the claim to be credible?
- A figure, its scope, its baseline year and its source
- A label created and awarded by the host itself to its own offers
- A public pledge by its chief executive to do better within ten years
- A comparison with an unnamed competitor, deemed more polluting
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A figure, its scope, its baseline year and its source
A verifiable claim says what is measured, on what, since when and by which source. A home-made label, a promise or a comparison without data provides no proof.