Management systems and sustainable development The moving goal posts from environment to corporate responsibility

摘要

Across all countries and sectors, companies are assessing their approach to non-financial business issues. And the goalposts keep moving. At first, the issues were mainly environmental. Then the term "sustainable development" came to the fore. Now corporate social responsibility and corporate governance are setting the agenda. This article looks at issues and trends over the past decade. It was following a series of high-profile pollution disasters during the 1980's that newspaper headlines, the growth of campaigning groups and increased environmental legislation led to the realization that companies which polluted needlessly would be called to account. In the USA, in particular, the increasing concern at corporate environmental pollution led to the "right to know" Toxic Release Inventory legislation, which placed comprehensive information on toxic releases in the public domain. The pressure on businesses perceived to be heavy polluters - especially those in the petro-chemical industry, with a growing track record of spills, fires and tanker collisions - induced a number to tell "their side of the story" in environmental reports.