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Issued the OECD insight entitled: "Sustainable Development: Linking Economy, Society and Environment"
November 2008. As a contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, the OECD published an insight volume entitled "Sustainable Development: Linking Economy, Society and Environment".
Easy to read, the book can be used to teach the sustainable development in a secondary school or in a higher institute.
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Speech of the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría to the ILO Tripartite Governing Body
17 November 2008, Geneva. In its speech to the ILO Tripartite Governing Body, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has put in evidence the results of the recent G-20 meeting and, in particular, the call for a more profitable collaboration between the international organizations in support of the work against the economic crisis and for the sustainable development, carried on by the Governments.
After reminding that the contribution of the OECD to the G-20 Action Plan is developed in two main directions, that is, on the one hand, the coherence of the financial markets regulations and, on the other hand, in a longer period perspective, the conditions to for a sustainable economic growth, Angel Gurria wished a more and more tight collaboration between OECD and ILO.
The two Organizations have already an important form of collaboration in the field of CSR as they are committed to promote it jointly through the cooperation of two respective commission. Such collaboration is destined to intensify and the OECD will be able to benefit from the experience of the ILO in the process of involvement of Countries such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South-Africa, all G-20 members.
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OECD Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts
20-21 October 2008, Paris. The OECD Annual Meeting of Sustainable Development Experts- AMSDE called together the representatives of the capital and of the stakeholders to discuss about the priorities for the future, the approaches to the governance, the business responsibility, the statistics, the assessment methods and the other tools to feed the sustainable development.
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The European Commission will finance the "Creation" project
The European Commission will finance the "Creation" project devised by the I-CSR Foundation in partnership with national and international bodies.
The Project aims to encourage the acquaintance, the spread and integration of the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility in the professional and continuous training, through the creation and experimentation of uniform spreading tools and training paths of EU level, concerning the issues of the responsible consumption, the energy saving and the environmental protection, the collaboration with the communities, the respect of the health and the work safety, the equal opportunities and the diversity.
The project is conceived for education and instruction operators (teachers, but not only), but the final beneficiaries will be students, workers and unemployed people, especially when operating in the field of SMEs.
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Linking CSR and competitiveness in three industrial sectors
November 2008. The European Commission announced the co-financing of initiatives in support of CSR in three industrial fields: chemicals, textile and construction.
All the initiatives are multi-stakeholder, involving actors such as industry associations, trade unions, .NGOs and public authorities, and their main addresses are SMEs.
The attempt is to use of the experience of these projects to understand if and how CSR could be turned into a competitiveness factor in the different industrial fields.
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The 2008 EU Competitiveness Report
The 2008 EU Competitiveness Report shows a continued improvement of the European economy in terms of productivity and standards of living vis-à-vis the United States, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita levels is still lower.
An overview of the effects the EU policies on competitiveness, making specific reference to CSR, shows that the latter can have a positive impact on the former influencing factors such as cost structure, human resources, customer perspective, innovation, risk and reputation management, and financial performance.
Many of these factors are dynamic. The employee expectations, the consumer awareness, the nature of innovation processes, and the importance that financial markets attribute to social and environmental issues make business interest for CSR be more and more grounded on opportunities for new value creation rather than on protection from risk.
Indeed the CSR impact in any given enterprise is still dependent on its competitive positioning and, for some competitors, CSR can undermine competitiveness. However, for an increasing number of enterprises, where CSR is part of a core business strategy, CSR is becoming a competitive necessity
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Mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility among SMEs
The aim of the project "Mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility among SMEs"[ carried on by z7UEAPME (European Union of Handicraft and SMEs) is to support the small and medium enterprises in the implementation of the guidelines and recommendations made by the European Multi-stakeholder Forum on CSR. The guidelines are focused on the real and credible promotion of social responsible behaviour among the European companies, particularly among SMEs, in order to improve the long-period competitiveness, involving actors such as industry associations, trade unions, NGOs and public authorities.
The project keeps on the experience realized during the Pan-European Awareness Raising Campaign of CSR among the SMEs, financed by the European Commission and promoted by UEAPME, with the involvement of a great number of entrepreneurial organizations, SMEs and others stakeholders in activities useful to the SMEs' competitiveness.
The project's more important activity is the recent publication of a Handbook in 10 languages containing practical cases and highlighting the importance of CSR to promote the SMEs' long term productivity. It should be used for business advising, education, seminaries, etc. and, on its base, a 25 hours training path on CSR should be realised, in addiction to an overall amount of approximately 40 local seminaries, with the involvement of the SMEs.
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Web: Seminar "How responsible business practices can help you thrive"
Un A 16 minutes video in the context of BT Small Business Week 2008 explains how SMEs can turn the challenge of CSR into an opportunity.
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The recession does not unhinge the fidelity to "the responsible" products
According to a survey carried on at a global level by Goodpurpose, seven consumers out of ten (68%) would remain faithful to a brand in times of recession where this supported a good cause.
41% has declared that, quality and price being equal, social commitment prevails over factors such as designs, innovation and fidelity to the brand in the product choice. Half of the consumers has declared to be more ready to recommend a brand or a product when it supports a good cause.
The research also shows that, in spite of this attitude of the world consumers, there is still much to do under the communication facet of such social commitment. Indeed, just 40% of them declares to be aware of all the companies supporting a good cause and only 33% knows a brand that actively supports a good cause.
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CSR Asia Business Barometer 2008 - The State of CSR Disclosure in Asia
The CSR Asia Business Barometer 2008 compares the CSR disclosure of 20 of the greatest companies of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
According to the Barometer, the number of companies understanding the value of the commitment in CSR and of its disclosure is increasing, and an accounting system, available to the public, could be an excellent tool to inform the stakeholders about the CSR strategy, approach and performances.
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New global targets for Coca Cola and WWF
The Coca-Cola Company announces new global targets for water saving and climate protection, to be pursued, in partnership with the WWF, by adjusting its own activities.
Such collaboration also promotes agricultural sustainable practices, contributing to the conservation of seven of the most important soft water fluvial river basins of the world.
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Symposium: "Entreprendre pour le développement"
9 - 10 December 2008, Paris. The enterprise plays a more and more important role besides the operators traditionally committed to promoting the development of the Third World countries (governments, international institutions, NGOs), by supporting the development of the communities, the availability of the enterprises' products and services to the poor populations, the micro-credit systems and the specific financial services, the fair trade, etc..
To have a better understanding of this evolution and to strengthen these collaborations, the IMS and the French Agency of Developmenthave organised an international two-days symposium where the development operators and all the enterprises engaged or willing to be engaged in these topics have been invited.
The event is enrolled in the agenda of the European Union French Presidency.
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Seventh Annual Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility
20-21 November 2008. Singapore. The Seventh Annual Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility- AFCSR held in Singapore tackled the issue "Business Response to Social Issues in Asia: Getting It Done", through the exchange of information and the examination of the state of the art among experts and representative of different nations, enterprises and NGOs.
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Sixth ICCSR Annual Symposium
7 November 2008. The Sixth Annual Symposium of the ICCSR (International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility of the Nottingham University Business School) has gathered international experts of business ethics, human rights and Corporate Social Responsibility, in order to contribute to a wider understanding of the practical implications for the enterprises deriving from the Third Ruggie's Report, in which the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises has confirmed the duty of the States to protect the human rights, also towards the enterprises, and the duty of the enterprises to respect them.
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Annual Meeting of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
4 November 2008, Johannesburg. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development - WBCSD held its annual high level meeting, for the first time, in that city.
The Council represents approximately 200 of the largest enterprises of international level, with a capitalization of the market amounting to more than 7 trillions dollars.
A priority on the agenda has been the discussion about the world-wide financial crisis and its implications for the enterprises having the sustainable development in their core long-term strategy.
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Conference on "Partnership and transparency at the heart of European Corporate Social Responsibility"
30 October 2008, Paris. It took place at the Palais d'Iéna the Conference on "Partnership and transparency at the heart of European Corporate Social Responsibility", organised by the Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission and the French Economic, Social and Environmental Committee.
Involving all the different stakeholders, the Conference aimed to show how successful partnerships can favour the sustainability of responsible initiatives and examined this issue from the perspectives of both responsible production and responsible consumption.
The conference also examined how the framework policies, negotiated at national, European or international level can determine the spread and the success of corporate social responsibility.
In particular, the transparency and reliability of information on the responsible actions of European companies were addressed:, since the task becomes more arduous when production purchases or subcontracts in Asia, Africa or Latin America.
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Sixth International Conference on the Social, Responsibility in Mexico City
29 October 2008, Mexico City. The Sixth International Conference on the Social, Responsibility, organized by COMPITE, in collaboration with the Secretariat for the Economy of Mexico and with other organizations, including the SELA-IBERPYME Programme, involved, this year, more than 500 national and foreign leading representatives of the entrepreneurial, academic and institutional world in an open discussion aimed at analysing the experiences, the competitive advantages and the practical problems that the enterprises have to tackle when adopting social responsibility practices.
Experts and businessmen have offered their contribution on the topic " Enterprise, government and society together"; on the international context of CSR, on the sustainable development and on CSR in the public, private and social sectors.
The Conference has been also the occasion to show the new trends in matter of CSR in the various regions of the Planet; and to make an updating of the new management instruments and systems including ISO 26000.
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The Italian NCP took part, as expositor, with its own stand, to the first 
