Corporate Social Responsibility

Anne Voigt Kjaer

Nov 18, 2021

CSR

One of the more important things that corporate managers and leaders need to understand is what Corporate Social Responsibility is all about. In fact, the sooner that this is understood the better off the company will be. The reality is that the world we live in today is no longer one where individual corporations or business entities can survive by providing "job security". The reality is that the world we live in today requires that organizations and business entities are continuously engaged in creating and building new jobs for the new economy of tomorrow. This is the crux of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Now that we have defined what Corporate Social Responsibility is let us look at the ways that the United States Department of State and United States Global Security Agency defines these two terms. They do so using similar language that is also used elsewhere in the world. For our purposes here we will stick with the United States Department of State because it is the government agency that is accountable for maintaining and updating the worldwide reporting standards for CSR. The United States Global Security Agency has also been actively working towards updating and developing its own internal reporting standards.

Now let us look at what it means to be responsible in the corporate responsibility industry. For those of you who may not be familiar with this term here is the definition: "The practice of making decisions based on the consideration of risks while maximizing the opportunity to achieve the objectives of the mission." In other words, Corporate Social Responsibility is the process of building a corporate culture that focuses on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The implementation of "sustainable development" or "social investment" into the business and government processes around the globe has many benefits. The biggest benefit of course is that such efforts to help create a stronger global economy, which will in turn lead to greater job creation and higher incomes. However, corporate responsibility can only go so far in addressing the issues of climate change, water scarcity, and poverty. At the same time, environmental concerns must be addressed through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the use of sustainable development tools and technologies. Additionally, the creation of a sustainable development culture within corporations is key to reducing or eliminating corporate social responsibility initiatives.

One of the most important aspects of the cSR strategy is the implementation of "green technology". One of the biggest challenges of the modern environmental movement is to raise awareness of the adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG's). An effective and efficient Green Technology strategy helps to mitigate these negative externalities and thus contribute to the global effort towards sustainable development. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been successful in creating a series of regulations and laws that require corporations to reduce their emissions. The agency is also responsible for increasing the energy efficiency of various products and services sold in the country. One of the major requirements of the EPA is that manufacturers provide an annual count of all emissions, both greenhouse gas emissions and those of electrical equipment and machines.

This annual count is called the EGR Transparency report and is prepared by the Natural Resources Defense Council. This report provides a company with both an opportunity to improve its efforts in the area of sustainable development and make efforts to meet its legal obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Apart from the companies' own efforts, the government is increasingly looking to companies to deliver voluntary measures that would help reduce its own emissions and that of the country as a whole. For this reason, cooperation between the company and the government has been a feature of many cSR strategies. A prime example of this collaboration has been the creation of the first Global Carbon Pollution Index, which serves as a basis for companies to set more ambitious targets and to progress towards them.

Another important principle of sustainable development is often considered by the companies involved in the production, shipping, and distribution of chemicals as part of the overall cSR strategy. It is the responsibility of every company to ensure that their chemical constituents do not undergo chemical reactions that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The creation of the esg database helps to ensure that the chemicals that are produced are released in the most responsible manner possible.

The creation of the esg database is just one element of the new corporate social responsibility strategy being implemented around the world. While it is vital that every large and medium-scale company take responsibility for their own greenhouse gas emissions, it is equally important for governments and other regulatory agencies around the world to establish regulations that companies must comply with. These regulations will ensure that the responsible parties step up their efforts to protect the environment. Corporate social responsibility is about more than just one aspect of sustainable development. It is a system in which a company not only strives to be responsible for its own greenhouse gas emissions but also for the environment as a whole.