Latest News

ICT comes to aid of unemployed Portuguese textile workers

Over 1,700 unemployed textile workers in Portugal have received ICT training essential for finding jobs in the evolving industry, thanks to an innovative public-private partnership, EurActiv reports. The success of the project, called TII (Technology, Innovation and Initiative), has attracted the European Commission's positive appraisal. Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla branded it a "model" in the field of the promotion of employability, one of the top targets set by the European Union… Read more
15 May 2008

European Commission casts ICT in green role

The European Commission has announced that it would promote the use of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) to improve energy efficiency throughout the economy. The Commission will encourage the ICT sector, which at present accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions, to lead by example the drive towards carbon neutrality. This will be done by reinforcing research, development and deployment of components and systems, complemented by voluntary agreements, for example on green procurement… Read more
15 May 2008

Wall Street Journal tests consumer willingness to pay for higher ethical standards

Many companies hope consumers will pay a premium for products made with higher ethical standards, but don't test that assumption, the Wall Street Journal writes. To find out, the journal conducted a series of experiments with consumers. In all tests, consumers were willing to pay a slight premium for the ethically made goods. But they went much further in the other direction: They would buy unethically made products only at a steep discount. According to the WSJ tests, companies don't necessarily need to go all-out with social responsibility to win over consumers… Read more
15 May 2008

Fewer Americans say there is 'solid evidence' of global warming, survey says

The proportion of Americans who say that the earth is getting warmer has decreased modestly since January 2007, mostly because of a decline among Republicans, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Overall, 71% of Americans say there is solid evidence of higher global temperatures, compared with 77% at the beginning of last year. Among Republicans, just 49% say there is evidence that the earth's average temperature has been rising. Currently, roughly half of Americans (47%) say the earth is warming because of human activity. Read more. (Source: Pew Research Center)
14 May 2008

McCain calls for mandatory limit on GHG emissions in the US

Senator John McCain sought to distance himself from President Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change, the New York Times reports. He also pledged to work with the European Union to diplomatically engage China and India if they refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming. Read more. (Source: The New York Times)
14 May 2008

More companies in emerging markets create corporate governance websites

Companies in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) increasingly disclose environmental, social and governance information in English on their websites, according to the tenth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) released by the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program. In CEE countries, there is growing online disclosure of ESG information especially in the social policy arena, but more information on corporate environmental policies needs to be released, the study says… Read more
14 May 2008

Commission pushing for 'New Social Agenda'

The Commission yesterday revealed plans to update the current social agenda and better integrate it into the EU's overall policy framework, EurActiv reports. The main focus lies in addressing cross-border health care, improving workers' rights and promoting better education systems. The new package is set to contain several pieces of legislation, including a long-awaited proposal on patients' cross-border healthcare rights as well as proposals on anti-discrimination, educational issues and workers' rights, Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Špidla announced at a conference in Brussels on 6-7 May… Read more
14 May 2008

So what's the business case for corporate social responsibility?

A preoccupation with “the business case” only demonstrates the immaturity of the CSR movement, argues Mallen Baker in Ethical Corporation. In truth, there is no business case for CSR, any more than there is a business case for innovation, marketing or outsourcing. Each of these processes describe a range of possible activities – and any one of those activities may be beneficial or detrimental to the business. It all depends on the judgement in selection of which actions to take, and the skill and energy applied to achieving results… Read more
14 May 2008

Companies have to get greener, but will consumers play along?

When it comes to being "green", consumers are more demanding of the corporate sector than of themselves, AdWeek reports. "We do see a 'green-action gap,' where consumers expect more from companies than they actually do themselves," says Raphael Bemporad, a founding partner of branding agency BBMG. For their green efforts to resonate profitably with consumers, companies have to deal with an admixture of skepticism and indifference, figure out which audiences are most receptive to their efforts, and cope with the fact that increasing numbers of their competitors are doing the same thing… Read more
13 May 2008

Social-responsibility marketing goes the route of branded entertainment

In its music video for "All I Need" and upcoming concert tour, Radiohead campaigns against human trafficking as part of a multimedia initiative created by Viacom's MTV Europe Foundation, AdWeek reports. The MTV Exit (End Exploitation and Trafficking) initiative also plans to produce other live events and an animated film on human trafficking.MTV's efforts illustrate the growing use of branded-entertainment as a way to distribute corporate responsibility campaigns, which are geared to creating deeper relationships with consumers concerned about environmental and social issues… Read more
13 May 2008

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