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In This Issue
Editor's Note
Your New BSR Weekly Newsletter
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the BSR Insight, our new weekly member newsletter. Every issue includes an in-depth feature article and two short departments with expert insights, tools, and analysis on timely global sustainability topics. You’ll also find information about upcoming events, member-only offers, and our latest blog post.
In this edition, our focus is on the growing role of government in corporate responsibility. In the “In Depth” feature, BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer offers his perspective on the opportunities and challenges for business in a landscape where government is more assertive. Our short departments in this issue—"Quick Hit" and "Spotlight"—illustrate how this growing government influence is impacting sustainable business issues related to water and human rights.
We hope you find new insights in every issue of the BSR Insight—and we welcome your feedback. Please email us at bsrinsight@bsr.org.
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In Depth
Business and Government: Working Together in the Reset World
By Aron Cramer, President and CEO, BSR
The signs of government’s increasing role in corporate responsibility efforts are everywhere—which might require companies to rewrite their sustainability strategies to meet the challenge of these changing times.
Read more →
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Spotlight
Human Rights and Public Policy
By Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights, BSR
The recently introduced Congo Conflict Minerals Act, a proposed U.S. law aimed at increasing transparency in the sourcing of minerals tied to civil war and used in many electronics, is the latest sign of renewed government interest in business and human rights. Human rights challenges for companies typically emerge when governments fail to fulfill their duty to protect their citizens’ rights, either willfully or for lack of resources. To help close these governance gaps, responsible public policy should be a key component of every company’s human rights strategy. BSR recommends that companies take the following steps:
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Raise awareness for human rights by publicly stating a commitment to respect all human rights.
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Educate key policymakers about the human rights challenges and opportunities companies encounter.
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Incorporate human rights issues into public policy and lobbying efforts, including within industry associations.
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Seek effective partnerships with government to jointly develop and implement solutions to key human rights challenges.
Quick Hit
Corporate Engagement with Public Water Policy
As water resources become more stressed, the ecological, economic, and social risks increase, requiring a shift from technical solutions to integrated, multidisciplinary, stakeholder approaches, as illustrated in the chart above, moving from the bottom left to the upper right quadrant. Companies operating in complex environments are beginning to engage public policy processes to communicate their interests in stability and cooperation, rather than compete over a resource that is becoming scarcer over time.
Source: "Investigating Shared Risk in Water: Corporate Engagement with the Public Policy Process" (WWF 2009)
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