A waste of paper

摘要

The growing number of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports produced by well known, multinational companies suggests that the business world is taking seriously its responsibility to society and to the environment. True, the advent of CSR reporting has indeed raised the profile of sustainable and ethical issues within business. Unfortunately, and to the chagrin of ethical investors, researchers and analysts, the content of the majority of CSR reports remains pretty opaque and meaningless. If we look at the FTSE 100 index as an example, 98 of the companies listed feature CSR information on their website; 81 actually supply a full CSR report. However, only 17% of these companies state measurable improvement targets and are verified independently - a disturbingly low number when one considers their wide-ranging societal and environmental global impacts.