I’ve just read an article in Ethical Performance (Nov 09 edition, Vol 11, issue 6 p2) about the price of tomatoes. A host of US companies including McDonalds and the worlds biggest catering company, Compass, have agreed to pay a premium for their tomatoes.
Current business conditions are keeping the pressure on to reduce costs. So why are these companies prepared to do this, and what does the price of toms have to do with the rest of business?
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The third in my series of posts on CR and sustainability reporting. This time, I’m looking at an issue that comes up a lot in my discussions with would-be reporters: the GRI guidelines and their pros and cons . . .
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines are viewed with mixed feelings by reporters. At Two Tomorrows, we helped shape the original guidelines and are an official ‘organisational stakeholder’ of GRI, so of course we’re broadly supportive. But we do understand the reservations some companies have, and frequently support those who don’t use GRI at all.
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I envy people who are able to stick to a gym schedule. But it’s not for me – I don’t quite manage it. Instead, I go to the everyday gym.
I’m the fella jogging up the stairs coming out of the Bakerloo Line at Paddington, running for the bus, pushing a rotary mower around the garden, making life that little bit more difficult for myself.
And I’m not the only one. There’s a growing band of people out there who recognise the benefits of a bit of extra manual effort in our daily activities. And we know it’s not just beneficial for our own wellbeing, but also for the planet’s.
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I’m soon to fly off to San Francisco for work. I’ve always wanted to go and have even considered taking some flowers for my hair (but I was worried about getting through Customs).
It will be my first time visiting the city and it will give me an opportunity to catch up with colleagues as well as clients I have worked with for a while but not been to visit.
Hang on a minute, I’m a sustainability advisor. What am I doing flying? Read the rest of this entry »
The second in a series of reflections on CR and sustainability reporting. This time, I’m looking at how you can set your report apart from the herd by avoiding the five most common reporting traps . . .
If you report your company’s sustainability performance, do you baulk at the idea of writing the sustainability report? If you have an interest in a company or its product, do you relish the idea of reading the sustainability report?
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My four-year-old son is developing a new obsession for David Attenborough-style TV documentaries, and has discovered a channel on Sky called Eden, which runs these shows all day, every day. All well and good I thought; he’ll learn a bit about the planet to impress the teachers with. But then he turned to me and asked the killer question about what’s going to happen to our planet if too much CO2 builds up.
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Rowan Williams, Barrack Obama, Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy have all called for reform of the City bonus culture in the past few days. They reflect widespread concern that the lessons of last year have not been learned by those widely seen as being a root cause of the economic crisis. But this is simply another indication of a deeper problem.
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I am going to look at various aspects of corporate responsibility and sustainability reporting in a series of ‘reporting notes’ over the next few weeks. First, some thoughts for newbie reporters . . .
When it comes to sustainability reporting, companies often struggle, either with what to report, how to report it, or why they’re reporting. Sometimes all three. Many also struggle with gathering the raw data for the report.
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The Guardian has just launched its new interactive sustainability reporting website. The newspaper is already recognised as a sustainability reporting leader, so some might wonder why it has taken so long to go interactive. But despite Web 2.0 technology being around for a good few years now, to my knowledge no-one has made good use it for sustainability reporting – until now. So this would appear to be a genuine first. Read the rest of this entry »
I own an old VW camper. It’s red and white and full of real wood and character. When I drive along the road, people smile. But it’s an inefficient, polluting old banger. So should I keep it? Read the rest of this entry »
