The GlobeScan – Sustainability Survey, Year: 2016

The 2016 finding shows non-state actors keep on outperforming with national governments not performing well on sustainable development. The GlobeScan – Sustainability Survey 2016 shows who is regarded as the global corporate leaders, what is the best way to make positive contribution towards the Sustainable and Development Goal and much more.

Annual Review of the State of CSR in Australia and New Zealand 2016, Market: Australia, Year:2016

The Annual Review of the State of CSR in Australia and New Zealand is the largest ongoing study of corporate social responsibility (CSR) capabilities and practices in Australian and New Zealand organisations. The aim is to analyse key trends in CSR so CSR managers can make evidence-based decisions that advance positive change in their organisations   Click here

G. Unruh, D. Kiron, N. Kruschwitz, M. Reeves, H. Rubel, and A.M. zum Felde, “Investing For a Sustainable Future,” MIT Sloan Management Review, Market: US, Year: 2016

Many executives embrace the conventional wisdom that mainstream investors care little about an organization’s performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics. Few companies make it a priority to communicate their sustainability performance to investors, or even develop a robust story about their sustainability performance. Why should they? Investors won’t shift their investments, the thinking goes, based on a company’s ESG performance. However, a growing number of investors are paying attention to ESG performance, as evidence mounts that sustainability-related activities are material to the financial success of a company over time. Investors care more about sustainability issues than many executives believe.  Find out more

A GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey, Market: Worldwide, Year:2015

More than two decades ago, government leaders, scientists, NGOs and other change makers gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a historic summit that would set the direction of sustainable development for years to come. For this survey, expert stakeholders were asked to represent business, government, NGOs and academia across 82 countries to evaluate the progress that various institutions have made since 1992 and reflect on their expectations for the next 20 years. Discover what sustainability leaders had to say

EcoBusiness, Market: Asia Pacific, Year: 2015

It seems criminal, when you think about it, that across the world tonnes of waste are generated and sent to landfill daily even as we face mounting challenges of resource scarcity, rising commodity prices, and environmental degradation. This is why the circular economy is such an exciting proposition… Read more

Cone Communications and Ebiquity, Market: Global, Year: 2015

The 2015 Cone Communications/Ebiquity Global CSR Study reveals one major takeaway for companies: global consumers have officially embraced corporate social responsibility – not only as a universal expectation for companies but as a personal responsibility in their own lives. Consumers see their own power to make an impact in so many ways: the products they buy, the places they work and the sacrifices they are willing to make to address social and environmental issues… Download Here

The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, Market: Global, Year: 2015

With many companies making strategic business decisions over long time frames, the projections of The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) provide information to facilitate such decisions. Long-term forecasts and scenarios are also key to understanding some of the big economic issues that will shape global business in the coming decades. The EIU has recently completed an extension of forecast horizon to 2050, and here are some of the key trends that are highlighted by these extended forecasts… Download Here

A GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey, Market: Worldwide, Year:2015

More than two decades ago, government leaders, scientists, NGOs and other change makers gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a historic summit that would set the direction of sustainable development for years to come. For this survey, expert stakeholders were asked to represent business, government, NGOs and academia across 82 countries to evaluate the progress that various institutions have made since 1992 and reflect on their expectations for the next 20 years… Download Here

BCG, Market: Australia, Year: 2015

The practice of corporate sustainability is moving beyond ad hoc, opportunistic efforts to embrace a more holistic, strategic approach that pursues transformational goals, frequently through partnerships that engage multiple entities, including competitors, suppliers, governments, and NGOs. A new global study by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR), The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the UN Global Compact and the results are released in a report titled Joining Forces: Collaboration and Leadership for Sustainability

GreenBiz, Market: US, Year: 2015

The State of Green Business Report 2015 continues tradition of opening a window into how, and how much, companies are improving their environmental performance and how much their efforts are making a difference…

Chris Wash, SustainAbility, Market :Australia , Year:2015

The 2015 Sustainability Leaders marks nearly two decades worth of the tracking and analysis of the evolution of the sustainability agenda, and of the leaders and institutions most responsible for driving it forward. The report provides an overview of perceived corporate sustainability leaders from 1997 to 2015 and the perceived progress that various institutions have made since the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, along with expectations for the next 20 years… Read more

Cone Communications, Market: US , Year: 2015

This study reveals one major takeaway for companies: global consumers have officially embraced corporate social responsibility – not only as a universal expectation for companies but as a personal responsibility in their own lives. Despite distinctiveness on a country-by-country level, global consumers remain steadfast as open-minded partners for collaboration to drive forward social and environmental progress. Now, companies must advance CSR beyond a brand-attribute to create an entirely new CSR experience.

Kering, Market: Australia, Year: 2015

Kering has found a way to unlock business potential and empower imagination. We have developed an innovative tool, the Environmental Profit & Loss (E P&L), which makes the invisible impacts of business visible, quantifiable and comparable… Read more

Kering, Market: Australia, Year: 2015

The E P&L has given us a new way to look at our business. By creating the E P&L, we have discovered new opportunities to innovate, to become more efficient and to reduce the impact we have on the environment. These are opportunities that would have remained invisible without our E P&L… Read more

Gregory Unruh, MIT Sloan, Market: US, Year:2015

Steve Zaffron, CEO of the Vanto Group and co-author of the best-selling book The Three Laws of Performance, has worked with diverse organizations to achieve a culture where sustainability focus runs deep. His experience shows that leaps in human performance come less from tangible investments in automation, equipment or compensation schemes, and more through intangible transformations in the way people in organizations see themselves and others.

Read more

wbcsd, Market: Global, Year:2015

WBCSD’s Redefining Value team launched a call for collaboration on The Social Capital Protocol – an important step in helping businesses measure and manage their social performance… Read more

Ashish Kothari, The Guardian, Market: Australia, Year:2015

In the face of worsening ecological and economic crises and continuing social deprivation, the outcome document of the 2012 Rio+20 Summit, The Future We Want, failed to identify the historical and structural roots of poverty, hunger, un-sustainability and inequity… Read more

SustainAbility, Market: Global,Year:2014

The need for fundamental shifts in business practice, including in business models, both to drive necessary progress toward, and to unlock business value from sustainability. Such shifts are all the more urgent and relevant today, given slow progress on sustainable development broadly and accelerating innovation and disruption (both positive and negative) already playing out in many industries… Monitor&utm_term=Model Behavior 20 Business Model Innovations for Sustainability#.VbGt_ktlDKM Read more

Global Initiatives, Market: Singapore, Year: 2014

Prosperity has often been defined purely in economic terms: growth in gross domestic product, success in business, or personal wealth. Today, prosperity includes greater equality of opportunity and incomes, stronger systems for health and education, preserving the environment and natural resources for future generations, and the freedom to pursue new ideas, innovations and entrepreneurship. In recent decades, prosperity has undeniably been on the increase. In Asia alone, hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. But, far too many are still left out.Download Here

Corporate Citizenship, Market: Global, Year: 2014

As the circular economy continues to be the latest buzzword in sustainability, this paper unravels the complexities around the topic and presents it in a compelling, easy to read language – packed with best practice and advice that companies can relate to… Read more

SustainAbility, Market: Australia,Year:2014

The need for fundamental shifts in business practice, including in business models, both to drive necessary progress toward, and to unlock business value from sustainability. Such shifts are all the more urgent and relevant today, given slow progress on sustainable development broadly and accelerating innovation and disruption (both positive and negative) already playing out in many industries… Read more

The Australian Institute Market: Australia, Year: 2014

A new report by the Australian Institute shows jobs in the solar sector having recently eclipsed the coal-fired energy sector and is likely to become a huge job creator with another 8000 jobs expected to be created by 2018.

Headsup.org.au Market: Australia, Year: 2014

Untreated depression costs Australian employers $12.3 billion every year through absenteeism, reduced productivity and staff turnover. A mentally healthy workplace however provides a positive return on investment. Research by PwC has shown that effective interventions to create a mentally healthy workplace will, on average, have a positive return on investment (ROI) of 2.3.Read more…

CBS News Market: USA, Year: 2014

The plastics industry creates 1.8 trillion pounds of carbon emissions every year, but now one company has figured out a way to take the pollution and turn it into plastic you can hold in your hand. This is a blue game changing innovation! More…

Greenbiz Group and Waste Management Market: US, Year: 2014

When it comes to waste, everyone knows the 3-R mantra: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. But it’s tough to follow the 3 Rs when products, packaging and materials aren’t designed with end-of-life in mind.This research was undertaken to identify insights into how waste and recycling decisions are made by sustainability executives, the metrics they are employing in their drive toward waste reduction, and the actions they plan to undertake in the future.

Greenbiz.com Market: US Year: 2014

State of Green Business, the seventh annual assessment of corporate sustainability trends and metrics, paints a picture that is both optimistic and highly problematic – a perfect metaphor for the sector. Check it out here

Business in the Community Market: UK, Year: 2014

For 9 billion people to have access to a good quality of life in 2050, we need to change what citizens perceive as high quality living, as well as changing products, services and business models. High quality lives need a thriving resilient economy that works in the context of finite resources and fragile eco-systems, and where personal wellbeing is measured as much in life satisfaction as it is on finances and material wealth. The Headlines provides a set of indications for what a high quality, sustainable lifestyle could look like in 2050.

Bteam.org Market: Global, Year: 2014

Created by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz,the B Team aims to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit.

World Economic Forum Market: Global, Year:2014

The world is facing a series of difficult challenges and adjustments: We face a broken social contract and declining social trust in developed economies. There are very difficult choices that come with austerity and retrenchment. We see serious resource mal-distribution and constraints; and experience growing conflicts. The need for equitable growth in developing nations is clear; and the need for a moral agenda to overcome extreme poverty.

Read more…

Corporate2020.org Market: Global, Year: 2014

Discover Corporation 20/20 an international, multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to develop and disseminate a vision and pathway for 21st century corporations in which social purpose moves from the periphery to the heart of the organisation.

World Energy Council Market: Global, Year: 2014

The energy sector is facing increasing pressures from climate change. All segments of the industry will be affected by the changing global climate and the policy responses to it. So says a briefing published jointly by the World Energy Council (WEC), the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), the Cambridge Judge Business School, and the European Climate Foundation.

The briefing, released on 18 June at the Asian Clean Energy Forum in Manila, brings into sharp focus the energy-related findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) for policymakers and business leaders in the energy sector. It identifies the need to incorporate climate change mitigation and adaptation measures into energy policymaking, infrastructure planning, and investment decisions.

Pathway polymers Market: Global, Year:2014

Sustainability in the tire and flatproofing industries is a topic that draws a lot of public attention. Tires are viewed as one of the most problematic sources of waste because of the alarming amount of fossil fuels and other raw materials used to produce the tires. Environmentally sound disposal of scrap tires and the sustainable use of natural resources continue to be top priorities for tire manufacturers, distributors and retailers today.Read more…

McKinsey Market: Global, Year: 2014

Executives at all levels see an important business role for sustainability. But when it comes to mastering the reputation, execution, and accountability of their sustainability programs, many companies have far to go. Read more…

CDP Market: Europe, Year: 2014

In 2013 the European Union decided that 20% of its spending over the 2014-2020 period would be spent towards climate action (through the European Structural Investment Fund). These funds would be invested in instruments that contribute to strengthen energy security and build a low-carbon, resource-efficient and climate resilient economy that will enhance Europe’s competitiveness and create more and greener jobs. This allocation will be governed by a cooperative process between DG CLIMA and Member States to build towards positive climate action and the objectives set forth by the European Council. European businesses are significant stakeholders and participants in this process, and the CDP data shared in  this report will help European decision makers understand the vulnerabilities and opportunities that climate change poses to the private sector.

Globalsystemchange.com Market: Global, Year: 2014

The purpose of this website is to raise awareness about the need for system change and discuss how different segments of society, especially business, might bring it about. The System Change section discusses systems thinking, wisdom and other big picture issues. The Articles section provides more specific ideas about addressing systemic challenges and opportunities facing business and society.

McKinsey Market: Global, Year: 2014

Meeting increasing global demand requires dramatically improving resource productivity. Yet technological advances mean companies have an extraordinary opportunity not only to meet that challenge but to spark the next industrial revolution as well.

Bureau of Meteorology Market: Australia, Year: 2014

Weather and climate touch all aspects of AUSTRALIAN LIFE. What we experience here at home is part of the global climate system. The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO contribute significantly to the international effort of weather and climate monitoring, forecasting and research. In State of the Climate, we discuss the long-term trends in Australia’s climate.

McKinsey Market: Global, Year: 2014

Lean-production techniques have been revolutionizing operations for 50 years. Advances in technology, psychology, and analytics may make the next 50 even more exciting. Discover how Lean is enhancing new industries and sectors not just manufacturing.

UL Environment, Inc Market: Global, Year: 2014

The National Association of Environmental Management’s (NAEM) inaugural trends report,  Planning for a Sustainable Future, is an in-depth analysis of the issues that will shape EHS and sustainability management in the year to come.

UL Environment, Inc Market: Global, Year: 2014

The Product Mindset is the only global study of its kind, highlighting key findings and insights about the ways manufacturers and consumers think and make decisions about products. For the first time ever, key research findings and priority rankings from The Product Mindset are available for you to analyze, segment and explore through a new interactive tool.  This years study reveals six key insights about what is shaping the buying choices consumers make, which is particularly relevant on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Sustainable Brands Markets: Global, Year: 2014

Enjoy an array of videos, podcasts and slideshow presentations from the Sustainable Brands 2014 conference in San Diego. Check them out…

Mckinsey Market: Global, Year: 2014

In a world where physical and virtual environments are rapidly converging, companies need to meet customer needs anytime, anywhere. Heres how.

McKinsey Market: Global, Year: 2014

Digitization is rewriting the rules of competition, with incumbent companies most at risk of being left behind. Read about six critical decisions CEOs must make to address the strategic challenge posed by the digital revolution.

Netbalance Market: Australia, Year: 2013

/>This reportfrom Net Balance shows that a growing number of Australian listed companies are setting high standards of transparency and accountability, providing their stakeholders with robust, assured information about their sustainability performance. This encouraging trend, however, is tempered by the large number of companies that still face a steep learning curve in understanding and communicating their social and environmental impacts.

To stay competitive, companies must stop experimenting with digital and commit to transforming themselves into full digital businesses. Here are seven traits that successful digital enterprises share.

MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group GC. Market: Global, Year: 2013

This 2013 report looks at companies that “walk the talk” in addressing significant sustainability concerns. So-called “Walkers” focus heavily on five fronts: sustainability strategy, business case, measurement, business model innovation and leadership commitment. For them, addressing significant sustainability issues has become a core strategic imperative and a way to mitigate threats and identify new opportunities.

Ernst & Young Market: Global, Year: 2013

This 2013 survey looked at how companies are responding to a wide range of internal and external forces related to environmental sustainability risks and how well companies are prepared to address them.Read more…

Source: E2 ManageTech Market: America Year: 2013

In 2008, E2 ManageTech, Inc. (E2) conducted a benchmark study for Current Practices and Tools for Sustainability. The 2008 survey indicated that the majority of participants had not reached the “tipping point” in their sustainability program defined as implementing some type of corporate Sustainability Information Management Systems (SIMS). It was forecasted at that time that a surge would be seen in SIMS as companies realize that they can streamline their collection, manipulation and reporting of sustainability data to save time and money.

In 2013, E2 conducted an updated version of the 2008 survey, analysing comparative results from several industries in Corporate America. While the predicted “surge” did not occur, the 2013 survey did reveal an increase in SIMS usage; and the challenges of implementing a SIMS have taken on a nuance.

Deloitte. Market: Global, Year: 2013

Deloitte’s inaugural report on some of the most important emerging business trends that influence executives’ approach to top-line strategy. Discover the eight trends that have the potential to upend long-held assumptions, energize strategic planning efforts, and fundamentally shift the business environment for individual companies or industries.

Forbes + Institute For Industrial Policy Studies Market: Korea, Year: 2013

FORBES interviewed Jae-eun Kim, director and president of the Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) in South Korea for her thought leadership on the development of CSR , trends and outlook in Korea.

GlobeScan. Market: Global, Year: 2013

If there were ever a time when business could afford to ignore the world “out there,” that time has long passed. The speed of social change can be dizzying and only organizations that understand and respond to the way that societies are transforming themselves will thrive.

GlobeScan has been tracking trends among stakeholders and the general public across 25 countries for over two decades. From their unparalleled exploration of trends, it is clear the world has changed dramatically and many global management teams are ill equipped to navigate the shifting landscape. Discover insights in Reputation, Brand, Sustainability and Engagement.

KPMG RobecoSAM. Market: Global, Year: 2013

The Sustainability Yearbook assesses the sustainability performance of more than 2,000 companies worldwide across 58 sectors. It provides: An analysis of corporate sustainability covering multiple sectors and geographies; Highlights the economic, environmental and social dimensions that are relevant to each sector; provides insights into future sustainability trends and how sustainability strategies can help businesses to achieve a competitive advantage.

Sustainable Business Forum. Market: Global, Year: 2013

Crane and Matten, two business school professors from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto, Canada, best known for their books and research articles on business ethics and corporate citizenship share their views on CSR Trends in 2013.

Ernst & Young. Market: Global 2013

It’s not surprising the biggest opportunity between 2013 – 2015 is innovation in products, services and operations. Read the Full Report.

Ecosystems Marketplace. Market: Global, Year: 2013

This report shows in a global economy where policy solutions in support of these markets are slow to be implemented, many private companies are voluntarily internalizing the price of carbon in their business activities. 90% of offset volumes were contracted by the private sector – where corporate social responsibility and industry leadership were primary motivations for offset purchases. In general, voluntary demand for carbon offsetting grew 6% in 2012, and buyers committed more than $522 million to offset 101 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions paying a volume-weighted average price of $5.9/tonne – slightly down from 2011’s $6.2/tonne, but significantly higher than the price for offsets under the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (less than $1/tonne) and under the EU ETS price, which last traded at 4.35 Euros.

Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute and GreenBiz. Market: Global, Year: 2013

Popular media and political chatter are abuzz with a cacophony of energy news and opinion. Amid the chaos, some orderly strands can be discerned. Here are three themes that merit attention – according to one of the world’s most influential scientists, former policy maker and Chairman/Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute Amory Lovins.

McKinsey Global Institute. Market: Global, Year: 2013

This report cuts through the noise and identifies 12 technologies that could drive truly massive economic transformations and disruptions in the coming years. The report also looks at exactly how these technologies could change our world, as well as their benefits and challenges, and offers guidelines to help leaders from businesses and other institutions respond.

CSR Wire. Market: USA, Year: 2013

The economic, social and environmental volatility now facing business means organizations have to operate in a dynamically transforming landscape. Organizations inspired by nature are resilient, optimizing, adaptive, systems-based, values-based, and life-supporting. Its time to understand the fundamentals that drive it.

Infosys. Market: Global, Year: 2013

In the previous decade, regulation, awareness and stakeholder pressures made enterprises rethink their sustainability agenda. What started out as corporate social responsibility and fragmented ?green’ programs has now become a dedicated enterprise function. One that is all set to effect a change in the way enterprises operate. From strategy to social media to supply chains, here’s looking forward to the trends that will matter in 2013. And trends are all about spreading the knowledge – so go ahead and share this infographic with your friends, peers or colleagues.

REN21. Market Global, Year: 2013

REN21s Renewables Global Status Report (GSR) has grown to become a truely collaborative effort of over 500 authors, contributors and reviewers, and is today the most frequently referenced report on renewable energy market, industry and policy trends. It provides testimony to the undeterred growth of electricity, heat, and fuel production capacities from renewable energy sources, including solar PV, wind power, solar hot water/heating, biofuels, hydropower, and geothermal.

Ernst and Young. Market: Global, Year: 2013

One key findings of this Ernst and Young report is how the sustainability focus in a growing number of companies is moving from eco-efficiency efforts to a discussion concerning risk reduction and mitigation. As with other sustainability and CSR issues, language is critical and sustainability executives need to learn how to translate the issues they are tracking into the language of enterprise risk management.

Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, Cranfield School of Management and Business in the Community (BITC). Market: UK Year: 2013

This UK report examines how company boards organize the oversight and governance of corporate responsibility and sustainability. It is both a summary of quantitative and qualitative research of FTSE 100 companies and companies completing BITC’s CR Index undertaken during 2012 and a think-piece inviting discussion and debate amongst corporate boards about how to improve oversight and governance in future.

Business in the Community. Market: UK, Year: 2012

The Forces for Change is a framework to help you understand today’s radically changing world and synthesise the breadth of complex, fast changing, interdependent factors shaping the business landscape.

Mallen Baker. Market: UK, Year: 2012

By any count, the world is changing faster than ever before. Human numbers are growing faster, and the impact of our activities is being felt in more and more ways. This change has profound implications for business, and means that the world of CSR – or how businesses respond to society’s expectations – is at the forefront of this change. So it’s worth looking for what are the current trends and where are they heading.

Unilever. Market: Global, Year: 2012

After the global consumer goods company published its Unilevers Sustainable Living Plan laying out ambitious sustainability goals, company leaders realized meeting those goals was going to be tough. So they got creative. Discover How Unilever crowdsourced creativity to meet its sustainability goals

And how listening to others and learning from our stakeholders as a matter of course, informs their decision-making, strengthens their relationships and helps them deliver their commitments and succeed as a business.

GreenBiz. Market: USA, Year: 2012

Whenever Walmart takes on a project, it creates ripples – if not tidal waves – throughout every industry it touches. So it’s somewhat surprising, looking back, to learn that when the retail giant first began tackling sustainability goals, it followed an anecdotal, aimless route, seeing an opportunity and going after it, without a system. Of course, Walmart measured its suppliers and products on “everything under the sun,” but it did not have a real framework until it launched the Sustainability Index in 2009.

The Sustainability Index, which is not proprietary to Walmart is open for use by any company, serving as a tool to improve the products its customers favor, integrate sustainability into the business, increase product quality, find supply chain efficiency and drive the productivity loop by reducing costs. Discover more…

PRI and UN Global Compact LEAD. Market: Global, Year: 2012

The recent focus on executive remuneration has demonstrated the challenges for investors to assess complex pay packages and corporate performance. Existing remuneration plans for senior executives do not necessarily promote sustainable value creation for their companies. However, the inclusion of appropriate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues within executive management goals and incentive schemes can be an important factor in the creation and protection of long-term shareholder value.

This guide is a tangible tool to guide dialogue between shareholders and investee companies about integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into executive pay. The document aspires to reflect a common understanding of opportunities and challenges, as well as provide practical examples of emerging practices.

VOX Global Weinreb Group Sustainability Reporting Net Impact, Berkeley. Market: Global, Year: 2012

This US survey of sustainability leaders showed that they adopted similar strategies for success. Those lessons, many of which run counter to conventional wisdom, are shared in this report.

the Pitch: Selling Sustainability From inside Corporate America.pdf

MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group Market: Global, Year: 2012

They have conducted a survey of managers and executives from companies around the world, asking how they are developing and implementing sustainable business practices. This year, most survey respondents say sustainability is on their companies’ management agendas to stay. What’s more, a substantial portion of respondents say their companies are profiting from sustainability activities. This research report discusses our findings and offers lessons to managers who are either trying to develop a sustainability agenda or wondering whether they should.

SMR BCG Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point Winter 2012.pdf

CSRWire. Market: Global, Year: 2012

Impact investment isn’t a movement any more, but a real and fast growing asset class. Investing in Social Entrepreneurship is now $1 Trillion Market in the US. Read more…

Katie Swanston, Head of Implementation Support, PRI. Market Global, Year: 2012

This presentation by Katie, shows how the Principals for Responsible Investment (PRI) is a toolkit for integrating ESG issues into investment and informing investment decisions. It’s Grounded in fiduciary duty is both voluntary and aspirational.

IREN 21. Market Global, Year: 2012

Renewables now around half of new additions to global electricity projects. The REN21s Renewables Global Status Report reveals the world has changed how it sources energy. 118 countries have now implemented RE targets .GSR is issued to emphasise the importance of renewable energy and to generate discussion of issues central to the promotion of renewable energy. It provides an overview of renewable energy market, industry, investment and policy developments worldwide. The report covers recent developments, current status and key trend which is design.

AccountAbility Institute. Market: Global, Year: 2012

Corporate responsibility and sustainable development evolve due to the initiatives of bold, forward-thinking and passionate leaders. These leaders-CEOs, CSOs, Heads of NGOs, Social Entrepreneurs, and Researchers-are changing the way we think about business. AccountAbility interviews influential corporate responsibility leaders about their insights, experiences, and the lessons they learned. This publication shares highlights from their conversations with five international leaders

KPMG. Market: Global, Year: 2012

Water scarcity has risen to the top of many corporate agendas over the past few years. In the face of dire predictions about dwindling supplies, a growing number of businesses are taking measures to become better stewards of this vital resource. In this edition of />Sustainable Insight KPMG explore how the world’s major businesses are setting out their approaches to water scarcity via their key communication vehicles on corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability.

MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group. Market: Global, Year: 2012

They have conducted a survey of managers and executives from companies around the world, asking how they are developing and implementing sustainable business practices. This year, most survey respondents say sustainability is on their companies’ management agendas to stay. What’s more, a substantial portion of respondents say their companies are profiting from sustainability activities. This research report discusses our findings and offers lessons to managers who are either trying to develop a sustainability agenda or wondering whether they should.

Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point Winter 2012.pdf

Harvard Business School. Market: Global, Year: 2012

This paper investigates the effect of a corporate culture of sustainability on multiple facets of corporate behaviour and performance outcomes. Using a matched sample of 180 companies, they find that corporations that voluntarily adopted environmental and social policies by 1993 – termed as High Sustainability companies- exhibit fundamentally different characteristics from a matched sample of firms that adopted almost none of these policies – termed as Low Sustainability companies.

They provide evidence that High Sustainability companies significantly outperform their counterparts over the long-term, both in terms of stock market and accounting performance. The outperformance is stronger in sectors where the customers are individual consumers, companies compete on the basis of brands and reputation, and in sectors where companies’ products significantly depend upon extracting large amounts of natural resources.

The_Impact_of_a_Corporate_Culture_of_Sustainability_on_Corporate_Behaviour_and_Performance.pdf

KPMG RobecoSAM. Market: Global, Year: 2012

The 2012 edition of The Sustainability Yearbook marks the beginning of a new global alliance between SAM and KPMG aimed at helping companies measure and enhance their corporate sustainability performance. It provides insights into the 58 sectors examined by the 13th SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which determines the companies that are included in this reference guide to the world’s sustainability leaders. The leading companies in 58 sectors are classified into three categories-SAM Gold Class, SAM Silver Class and SAM Bronze Class-with special status awarded to Sector Leaders and Sector Movers.

Forbes. Market: Global, Year: 2012

This article by Tim Mohin, director of corporate responsibility for Advanced Micro Devices and author of Changing Business From the Inside Out: The Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations outlines the biggest developments to watch for this year in the ever growing and changing world of corporate social responsibility in 2012. More

Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, Harvard Business Review, Market: US, Year:2011

The capitalist system is under siege. In recent years business increasingly has been viewed as a major cause of social, environmental, and economic problems. Companies are widely perceived to be prospering at the expense of the broader community. The more business has begun to embrace corporate responsibility, the more it has been blamed for society’s failures. This diminished trust in business leads political leaders to set policies that undermine competitiveness and sap economic growth. Business is caught in a vicious circle… Read more

Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer, Harvard Business Review, Market: US, Year:2011

The capitalist system is under siege. In recent years business increasingly has been viewed as a major cause of social, environmental, and economic problems. Companies are widely perceived to be prospering at the expense of the broader community. The more business has begun to embrace corporate responsibility, the more it has been blamed for society’s failures. This diminished trust in business leads political leaders to set policies that undermine competitiveness and sap economic growth. Business is caught in a vicious circle… Read more

SAM & PWC. Market: Global, Year: 2011

The 2011 Sustainability Yearbook offers an overview of the results of SAM’s 12th annual assessment of corporate sustainability practices, which provides the basis for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. It contains sustainability insights into 58 sectors. The top performers in each sector qualify as SAM Sector Leaders. In addition, the companies that have achieved the most significant year-to-year improvement in their corporate sustainability performance in each sector are recognised as SAM Sector Movers. The key topic of water as a global sustainability issue is a focal point for 2011.

GreenBiz Walmart. Market: Global, 2009

The Sustainability Product Index is a guide for rating the sustainability of products. The survey consists of 15 questions into 4 categories: energy and climate, material efficiency, natural resources and people and community. Walmart’s suppliers were asked to fill in the questionnaire. The survey is the first phase of project. Second phase involves the development of a Sustainability Index Consortium which measures the impact and resource use of products from raw materials through to end-of-life. The final phase is to develop a customer-facing rating system.

Market: Asia, Year: 2009

The Report discloses views of over 70 experts, knowledgeable of and working with CSR issues in the Asia Pacific region in 2009, in three areas: the key issues that are likely to dominate CSR in the future; the key institutions that are likely to shape the CSR agenda; and, the responses that they expect from businesses. This research therefore provides you with a picture of what expert stakeholders are concerned about in Asia and provides guidance as to how they expect businesses to respond. The_Future_of_CSR_2009_report.pdf

PWC. Marker: Global, Year: 2009

CSR Trends is a practical working tool designed to give readers useful insight into corporate social responsibility trends around the world and to help you meet the expanding expectations of your stakeholders for more information – and proof – that your company is not only building a sustainable business, but contributes to building a more sustainable world. CSR Trends 3 is chock full of benchmarks, best practice, pointers, statistics and guidelines.

McKinsey Quarterly. Market: Italy, Year: 2008

Executives know they must incorporate social and environmental trends into their strategies, but few act on trends in ways that would allow them to ride the waves successfully. In this article, author uses Italy as an example to illustrate how business leaders should deal with aging population, the social trend. Dissecting global trends: An example from Italy

CSR Asia. Market: Asia, Year: 2008

In order to get a glimpse into the future, CSR Asia undertakes annual research to identify what CSR experts in the Asia-Pacific region think are the issues facing companies over the next decade. In this report, over 50 people from business, NGOs, government and academia, who are well known for their views on CSR, are interviewed to see what trends they think business in the region will have to deal with. Their insights into the top ten issues facing business in a decade reveal what we all need to start thinking about and planning for now. report_future_of_csr2008.pdf
A summary article about the Report can be found here.

AccountAbility. Market: UK, Year: 2008

This report presents a field guide to the world of social intrapreneurship a new breed of social entrepreneur within big business. These corporate changemakers work inside big business, often against the prevailing status quo, to innovate and deliver market solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.

Market: US, Year: 2007

This report reviews some of the key CSR trends emerging for the industry in the coming three to five years of 2007 and point to implications for company practices. Additionally, it will provide results from an annual member survey focused on how BSR members are currently addressing some of their most important CSR impacts. 
Food_and_Agriculture_Industry_Trends.pdf}1

CSR Asia. Market: Hong Kong, Year: 2007

This a summary report of the survey, which was undertaken by the CSR Asia in association with the Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Hong Kong. The main aim was to find out what Hong Kong businesses and their stakeholders thought were the most important factors in determining what is socially responsible. Priorities_for_Corporate_Social_Responsibility.pdf

Frank Dixon – CEO Global Systems Change (US) Australia’s Inaugural CSR Summit. Market Australia, Year: 2007

Hundreds of corporations around the world are gaining major financial and competitive benefits by integrating sustainability into their core business strategies. Yet in spite of this great work, environmental and social conditions are declining rapidly in many areas and driving growing problems for business. This begs the question, what’s wrong with the sustainability movement? What else is needed? The answer largely is that much more attention must be given to improving overarching economic, political and social systems that essentially compel all organisations to operate unsustainably.

In this keynote address, Frank Dixon, CEO Global Systems Change (and the former Managing Director of Research for Innovest – the research analytic data provider for the Global 100 – the world’s most sustainable companies) describes leading-edge sustainability strategies. He will also unveil a system change-based approach to sustainability, called Total Corporate Responsibility (TCR) – a practical, profitable, collaborative, business-led approach to driving the system changes needed to achieve sustainability. This is the vanguard of the future and a must attend for business, government and community leaders looking for solutions to a sustainable future for business and our communities!

Frank_Dixon

Frank Dixon

Market: Global, Year: 2007

The 2007 GlobeScan Report on Issues & Reputation encompasses over 19,000 interviews with average citizens and informal Opinion Leaders across 19 countries. It is an international public opinion study that identifies, tracks, and delivers insight into the societal trends that impact the performance and reputation of your business. 2007_GlobeScan_report_on_Issues_and_Reputation1.pdf

John Meacock, Managing Partner, Deloitte Australia’s Inaugural CSR Summit. Market Australia, Year: 2007

Deloitte’s recent global survey of directors and senior executives found that while boards and top management agree non-financial data was important, firms generally did a poor job in this area. In this session, John Meacock shares how regulators and customers are demanding better non-financial information and how business must now prepare and measure non-financials monthly if they are to predict and manage corporate health and stay on top of the game.

John Meacock

John_Meacock_Health_of_Business.ppt

PWC. Market: Global, Year: 2006

Accountability varies by region so it is important that programs be tailored to meet cultural and national norms. People in different parts of the world understand, accept and implement accountability in different ways. See here how PricewaterhouseCoopers tailor accountability and sustainability efforts; and the report showing how leading companies are beginning to translate accountabilities between the seemingly alien worlds of sustainability and business value. Beyond_rep_final_pressv.pdf

Australia’s Inaugural CSR Summit. Year: 2006

Senator Grant Chapman – Chair of the PJC on Corporations and Financial Services

Andrew Peterson – Leader of the Environmental Law Group at PWC Legal

Senator Grant Chapman

The future of CSR in Australia. Andrew Peterson