Blogs About Reporting & Communications

Five Tips for Corporate Social (Media) Responsibility Communications

With sustainability reporting season in high gear, more company leaders are thinking about how social media plays into their overall reporting communications strategy. Whether you’re using social media now or plan to in the future, consider these five tips. Read more →

Posted: June 9, 2011 | Topics: New Media, Reporting & Communications, Stakeholder Relations

How the Next Generation Views Business and Human Rights

Faris Natour, Director, Human Rights

One of the benefits of teaching is the opportunity to cross-pollinate ideas and share experiences between the worlds of CSR practice and academia. When it comes to business and human rights, the need for this exchange seems particularly great. Read more →

Posted: June 3, 2011 | Topics: Human Rights, Reporting & Communications

Embedding the Millennium Development Goals into Business Strategy: The World’s Women Can Help

Racheal Meiers (née Yeager), Director, HERproject

During the CERES conference earlier this month, Levi Strauss CEO John Anderson made an important announcement: Levi Strauss will begin to require their suppliers to go beyond compliance and support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through workplace policies and programs and community outreach. Using the MDGs as a measurement for impact, Anderson said, will help apparel companies and apparel manufacturing businesses create positive benefits for local communities—such as improved health and nutrition, or access to bank accounts and financial literacy. Support for local communities and economic growth can lead to industry stability and ensure a sustainable supply of quality products. Plus, it’s the right thing to do. Read more →

Posted: May 26, 2011 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Economic Development, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, Human Rights, Reporting & Communications, Supply Chain, Women & Sustainability

Can Certification Schemes Collaborate to Raise Sustainability Standards?

Virginia Terry, Former Director, Advisory Services

Last week, company leaders, government representatives, NGOs, and certifying bodies gathered at the Just Means’ Certification, Consumption, and Change conference—which focused on the future of ethical product certification and eco-labels—to push for greater cooperation and consolidation among sustainability certification processes. Panel discussions—which included members from certifying organizations such as  Forest Stewardship Council, Green-e, Fair Trade, and the Rainforest Alliance—explored challenges related to giving consumers simple, user-friendly market signals to drive more sustainable purchasing habits.   Read more →

Posted: May 26, 2011 | Topics: Consumer Products, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Reporting & Communications

Rebuilding Sustainability Reporting Guidance From the Ground Up—Starting in Chile

Cody Sisco, Former Manager, Advisory Services

Should organizations be accountable for the performance of their supply chains? What information should they disclose? The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Working Group on Supply Chain Disclosures met last week in Santiago, Chile, to answer these questions in order to help improve supply chain reporting—which was identified by stakeholders and the GRI board as a weak point in overall sustainability reporting. Read more →

Posted: April 18, 2011 | Topics: Reporting & Communications, Supply Chain