Christian Aid warns corporate social responsibility can be mere rhetoric
Howard Lake | 25 January 2004 | News
“The problem with CSR,” says Christian Aid in a new report, “is that it is unable to deliver on its grand promises.”
Christian Aid is arguing that too often Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is simply a case of businesses “peddling fine words and lofty sentiments.”
The report, “Behind the mask: the real face of corporate social responsibility”, criticises the burgeoning industry behind corporate social responsibility. Using case studies about Shell, British American Tobacco and Coca Cola, Christian Aid says that “the rhetoric can also mask corporate activity that makes things worse for the communities in which they work.”
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“Some of those shouting the loudest about their corporate virtues are also among those inflicting continuing damage on communities where they work – particularly poor communities,” says Andrew Pendleton, senior policy officer at Christian Aid and author of the report. “Legally binding regulation is now needed to lessen the devastating impact that companies can have in an ever-more globalised world.”
The report concludes that the voluntary approach to improving corporate behaviour is wholly inadequate and that international legally binding standards are now needed.
Christian Aid is a member of the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) campaign, which is backing the Performance of Companies and Government Departments (Reporting) Bill.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.