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Corporate Social Responsibility (IVOR nr. 77) 2010/11.3.3
11.3.3 General CSR guidelines and water management standards
Mr. T.E. Lambooy, datum 17-11-2010
- Datum
17-11-2010
- Auteur
Mr. T.E. Lambooy
- JCDI
JCDI:ADS367055:1
- Vakgebied(en)
Ondernemingsrecht (V)
Voetnoten
Voetnoten
ISO 14001 Environmental Aspects Management System is a management tool for controlling and reducing the environmental effects of a company's operations. For more information please visit: www.iso.org, accessed on 10 July 2010.
The GC was an initiative of the former Secretary-General Kofi Annan to globally promote corporate social responsibility. It consists of ten principles of which three relate to the environment. Although neither water nor any other specific environmental issue is mentioned in the text, the commentaries do refer to the preservation of aquatic ecosystems and waste management as environmental challenges (UN Global Compact, 2008).
The ISO 26000 Guideline (not a certifiable standard) is set to be released by 10 October 2010 (re water, see pp. 42-46). See: http://www.iso.org/iso/socialresponsibility.pdf, visited on 27 July 2010.
In today's world there are many general guidelines setting forth how companies should behave in order to be good, socially responsible corporate citizens. When it comes to the technical management of the environmental impact of business operations, a widely followed standard is the 'ISO 14001' certification (Marinova et al, 2006; Fresner, 1999).1 One of the environmental factors taken into account is water. In the field of CSR standards, the most commonly used
are the OECD MNE Guidelines (OECD MNE Guidelines; Chapter V concerns
Environment) and the UN Global Compact Principles (UN Global Compact Principles; Principles 7-9 concernr environmental challenges). The Global Compact started the so-called 'CEO Water Mandate' (see section 11.3.4).2 Companies also draft their own codes or guidelines. Furthermore, the 'ISO
26000 Guideline' will offer a comprehensive set of practical guidelines on social responsibility for both public and private organisations. The current working document refers to waste water management as well as water conservation.3 The levels of detail and commitment differ per guideline -obviously ISO 14001 certification requires more commitment than meeting the Global Compact requirements. However, all mention water management, comprising of water waste management and freshwater consumption, as a key action for reducing a company's impact on the environment.