Accounting Reporting
gayngs
lec1.pptStructure
- CSR
- Sustainability
- Social and Environmental Issues
- International and Local Responses
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Corporate Social Responsibility
- The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time (Archie Caroll, 1979)
- Also known as corporate citizenship, corporate (social and environmental) responsibility, corporate social opportunity, responsible business
- No strong consensus on a definition for CSR (McWilliams, Siegel and Wright, 2006)
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CSR
- More than corporate philanthropy
- Narrower than ‘corporate responsibility’ (ethics)
- Extends ‘rule of corporate conduct’ (profit +)
- Sensitive to the impact of the corporation, and
- May present opportunities for competitive advantage
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Sustainability
- Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Adapted from:
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development United Nations, General Assembly Resolution 42/187,
11 December 1987.
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Sustainability and CSR
- Role of the organisation
Profit and shareholder value
Other?
- Responsibilities
Shareholders
Employees
Customers
Suppliers
Community?
Stewardship of the earth?
- Future prospects – access to resources and markets
- Risks – legal, market, cost/profit
- Competitive position
- Stakeholder (society and government) attitudes
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Social and Environmental Developments
- 1960s and 1970s – Birth of the Green Movement
- 1980s to Mid-1990s – Social and environmental failures, corporate and institutional responses, sustainable development emphasis
- Millennium and today – Globalisation and recognition of the fatality of environmental and social issues – IPCC report, Gore, Stern, Flannery, Garnaut.
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Significant Environmental Issues
- Air pollution through the production of greenhouse gases, chemicals and other potentially hazardous substances
- Threats to biodiversity and land degradation though habitat destruction and deforestation
- Water pollution, which could lead to the depletion of marine resources and access to fresh water
- Production of excessive waste with inadequate disposal systems
- Noise pollution
- Australian environmental issues
- Environmental issues are interrelated and could cause climate change
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Climate Change
- What is climate change?
Changes in temperature, air quality, precipitation, air mass behaviour, solar characteristics etc.
- Is it important?
Global warming
Political and social responses
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Climate change & Australian business
- How does it affect you?
Direct: your business
Cost of supplies (energy)
Regulation on operations (emissions)
Response by consumers (‘green’ is good)
Indirect: your market environment
Consumer behaviour
General prices
Capital market reactions
RISK
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Other Green jargon
- Greenhouse Gas
- Emissions
- Abatement
- Emissions Trading – cap and trade
- Carbon tax
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Significant Social issues
- Human Rights (including indigenous and minority rights)
- Labour
- Health and Safety
- Product Responsibility
- Community Well Being
- Society
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International & local responses
- World Earth summits
- Kyoto Protocol
- Millennium development Goals
- Recent Summits
- Australian developments
National Strategy for Sustainable development (1992)
Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act (1999)
National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (2008)
Carbon Tax (2012) – abolished in 2014.
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Summary
- The critical nature of social and environmental issues has placed an increasing emphasis on CSR
- The international and local community has recognised the severity of environmental and social issues, and has formulated policy instruments to respond to these problems
- The role of corporations in social and environmental issues is a concern that will be addressed in this course
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Next
- Corporations and CSR/Sustainability
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