The Sustainability Learning Forum

Participatory Communication with Employees

Pierina Amayo, Copeinca
Copeinca

CFG Investment and COPEINCA are Peruvian fishing companies that belong to the Pacific Andes Group. They are engaged in the extraction, processing, and production of fishmeal and fish oil for indirect human consumption. Also, they aim for direct human consumption through the production of canned mackerel and anchovy. Since september 2013 the integration process of these companies started and in the near future we expect to conclude this fusion process. Both companies are committed to sustainable development as a smart way to do business, considering that to ensure sustainability is an essential requirement to ensure that ethical principles, respect for people and the environment meet the challenges of acting on social responsibility and environmental, the Millennium Development Goals and Global Compact principles. more[...]

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Bettercoal: Tackling sustainability issues in coal purchasing

RWE
Marga Edens, RWE

The energy transition has many facets. Not only is the structure of electricity generation shifting, but the procurement of fossil fuels is changing as well. In ever more places in the world, natural gas and coal are now being traded on commodity markets, somehow comparable to petroleum. It has not always been this way, especially with coal, which was previously obtained mainly from domestic mines. But this is changing now. In Germany for example, 2018 will mark the end of domestic extraction. Germany is already supplying a huge amount of its demand forcoal from other continents. This leads to new challenges with regard to sustainability issues. The markets have become a great deal more liquid. Most of the coal on offer comes from mines in South Africa, Colombia, and Russia; their geological features allow coal to be extracted at significantly lower costs than in Western- European countries like Germany. However, there is a lack of knowledge concerning the conditions under which such mining takes place and allegations have been made that the mining in thesecountries has an negative impact on workers, the local people and the environment. Many of these countries do not have the detailed environmental impact assessments, socially acceptable resettlements, and rules for workers’ representation in decision-making that we take for granted in OECD-countries. Often the statements issued by mining companies contradict reports from environmental associations, human rights organizations, and trade unions. more[...]

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Achieving Sustainable Education

Dr Peter F. Tropschuh, Audi AG
Dr. Antonia Wade, Audi AG
Martina Biendl, Audi AG
Audi AG

The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development that is currently underway aims to offer all people the opportunity to achieve a worthwhile future while also integrating knowledge about sustainability into the education environment. Education also plays an important role for businesses, since their success is based on having well-trained, highly qualified, and skilled employees. As part of its corporate responsibility strategy, AUDI AG therefore invests at all levels in the training and advancement of its employees, expands the range of education in the regions surrounding its corporate sites, and works to help underperforming and socially disadvantaged students. To put the strategic mission “We live responsibility” into practice, Audi also trains its employees specifically on the issue of sustainability. more[...]

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Introduction to Labour Standards

For much of the last decade, globalization was a leading issue of public policy debate, and global core labor standards (CLS) were the lead demand of critics of globalization. Now, with the world economy stuck in the deepest economic recession since the 1930s, attention to globalization and the need for labor standards has waned as people have become more concerned about jobs and economic recovery. more[...]

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Taking Our ‘Way to Work’ onto the Streets

Lilian Furrer
Adecco Group

As global attention intensifies on the rising tide of unemployment – and above all on youth unemployment – Adecco, the world’s leading provider of HR solutions, took decisive action. On April 30, 2013, more than 10,000 employees in 50 countries mobilized and offered their expertise as part of the multifaceted Adecco Way to Work™ program. It is designed to provide practical and inspirational support to a generation at risk of exclusion from the world of work. Street Days, an online career center, coaching events, and an innovative work experience contest reached more than 500,000 young people. more[...]

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MDGs and SDGs: Are the Concepts Compatible?

Dr. Markus Loewe, German Development Institute

For the last 20 years, the international development debate has been dominated by two trends that seem, at first, to be heading in a similar direction. However, under closer scrutiny, they differ with respect to their focus and underlying philosophies. On the one hand, there is the agenda of reducing poverty in developing countries in its various dimensions, which found its expression in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). On the other hand, there is the idea of sustainability that became popular at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and that, at the Rio+20 summit in 2012, generated a parallel concept to the MDGs: the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). more[...]

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Women’s Empowerment at Nestlé

Bineta Mbacke, Nestlé
Nestlé S.A.

In May 2013, Nestlé signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles: a partnership initiative between UN Women and the UN Global Compact comprising a set of seven steps that business can take to advance gender equality and empower women. more[...]

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Building Bridges to a Brighter Future

Ralf Dürrwang
Christoph Selig
Deutsche Post DHL

Deutsche Post DHL has been partnering with SOS Children’s Villages since 2011 in an initiative to help disadvantaged young people bridge the gap to the world of employment. In Brazil, one of the original four pilot countries, the program has flourished by employing a unique approach in which local DHL employees from all levels volunteer their time in hands-on workshops to tutor and mentor youth from the favelas. This not only provides inspiration and role models for the kids, but is also a valuable and eye-opening experience for the employees. The initiative has been so successful that it has spread to 14 countries, with another 10 to be added during 2014, and more on the horizon. more[...]

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The Bank Everyone Can Trust and Rely On

May Myat Thu, Ayeyarwady Bank
Ayeyarwady Bank

AYA Bank has strived to become a “trusted partner” for everyone in the community and all its stakeholders, as its slogan indicates. To effectively become a partner that everyone trusts, AYA Bank believes in committing to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact as part of its strategy and practice, focusing on fulfilling its corporate social responsibilities to the community it serves. more[...]

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ACCIONA Exports Sustainability

Juan Ramón Silva Ferrada, Acciona
Acciona

ACCIONA’s business model is tightly linked to sustainability. ACCIONA’s 2015 Sustainability Master Plan states that each new international project must be backed up by a social impact assessment. The point is to ensure respectful and efficient interaction with local communities, mitigate risks, and improve the company’s relationships with the communities where it operates. As a flagship of ACCIONA’s commitment to the local residents of project areas, one could do no better than to look to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where the company has four wind farms, and to Brisbane, Australia, where ACCIONA is participating in the construction and operation of the Legacy Way Tunnel. more[...]

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Edens, Marga

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CSR in Africa

Editorial Team

For many years Africa is the hotspot for hunger and conflicts. But besite all these troubles ether is also a change for change and hope arising. More countries become aware of the ptential CSR has and include corporate responsibility as a fundanetla brickstone for developing citizenship. Our special illustrates variuos aspects. more[...]

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Mbacke, Bineta

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The Strength of Loose Couplings – The UN Global Compact as a Multistakeholder Initiative

Prof. Andreas Rasche, Copenhagen Business School

Multistakeholder initiatives such as the UN Global Compact organize their participants in specific ways. Most importantly, they have to bridge global (universal) principles and local (contextualized) implementation practices. Some initiatives have responded to this need by creating a nested network structure – that is, local networks that are embedded into a wider global “network of networks.” The UN Global Compact, for instance, has more than 100 local networks, which are connected through regional hubs, the Annual Local Network Forum, and interactions with the Global Compact Office. Stakeholder dialogue and collective action are emerging both within and among such networks. more[...]

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CSR in South Africa

Editorial Team

Professor Ralph Hamann is Research Director for the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. His areas of expertise include Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility. In 2006 he was involved as a researcher at the UN Global Compact Learning Forum, which took place in Ghana. For the UN Global Compact International Yearbook, Hamann highlights the “paradox for CSR in South Africa” and beyond. more[...]

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