Since 2000, the Berne Declaration and ProNatura have organized the Public Eye on Davos, which takes a critical look at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, every January.
On January 24, 2007, the next installment of the Public Eye Awards will take place, on the opening day of the WEF. Not only will it shine a critical light on the sometimes unsavory activities of the multinational firms that attend the WEF, but it will also spotlight a company that "gets it" regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) and that is setting an example for others.
I've translated some of the two-page nominations for the 2007 awards into English for the Berne Declaration, and I'll be publishing them in the excerpts section of this site after the nominees are formally announced at a press conference on January 11, 2007.
In the meantime, the Berne Declaration has posted a short promotional video clip to whet our appetites in the runup to the WEF.
Comments
I am a bit surprised and confused, as you have in this blog entry a company that "get's it" while in your Excerpts blog you have RUAG that, as far as I could tell, doesn't get it.
Do you have names of the companies that "get it"?
Thanks for your patience. ;-) Eosta is one example of a company that "gets it," and for that reason it's been nominated for the Positive Award. Another example will follow soon.
Could you please specify what it means to be a company that "gets it"? Thanks.
By "getting it" I mean a company that is a responsible corporate citizen in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Very generalized, it's a company that deals with people and the environment in an ethical manner, and is not strictly profit driven.
Thanks for clarifying. CSR leaves companies enough wiggle room as it is without defining it down even more! Responsibility is hard to measure and even harder to enforce since companies are not always rewarded for being ethical or penalized for unjust practices. Another problem is that sometimes just doing business in a country can be considered unethical, if that country is in grave breach of human or other rights. CSR would then mean not entering into or not honoring contracts with that government, but companies could get around it by claiming, for instance, that the business they're bringing will benefit the people and withholding it would be irresponsible. The concept of CSR gets used too often as convenient whitewashing for companies, so it's hard to have faith in it as a safeguard. Of course a little bit of CSR is better than none, so it's a real dilemma and I don't envy EvB in the task they undertake with the Public Eye awards!