# Is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) just the latest business fashion accessory?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2002/08/22/corporate-social-responsibility-just-business-fashion-accessory/
- Published: 2002-08-22T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Felicity Lawrence, writing in The Guardian, takes a swipe at the “greenwash” that
makes up so many companies’ “sustainability reviews.”**

“It is impossible not to be cynical about this latest fashion,” writes Felicity 
Lawrence in The Guardian about the vogue in major companies for corporate social
responsibility teams or reports.

She pokes fun at the contents of some of these reports. McDonald’s chief executive
explained “how McDonald’s will make the world a better place” in the company’s first
social report. Ms Lawrence points out however that there was “not much mention of
nutrition, but lots of litter initiatives.” Similarly, she is amused that Nestlé
Group includes employment statistics as part of its sustainability report: “More
than one million jobs were sustained by the Nestlé Group.”

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Ms Lawrence acknowledges that CSR can be a useful tool, but points out that that
there are no standards for the reporting. Some reports are independently audited,
others are not.

Read [Social butterflies by Felicity Lawrence](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/19/globalisation.voluntarysector)
at SocietyGuardian.

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