Corporate Social Responsibility

GRI recently launched a new online platform for people to test and demonstrate their knowledge on the GRI Standards, launched in October 2016. We asked Tim Lo, the first successful GRI Standards Exam taker, about his exam experience and how it adds value to his career as a sustainability professional.

A company's workforce is the lifeblood of the business, meaning that disclosing HR information will provide investors and other stakeholders with critical insights on the health of the company. Excellence in these areas often translates to increased return on investment, as leaders in corporate responsibility know well.

India has witnessed a year-on-year growth in total CSR spending. More consistent and comparable reporting will help stimulate accountability and measure the actual impact of CSR spending on the Indian economy, environment and society. In addition to building reporting capacity and quality, GRI South Asia is also gathering business momentum to align corporate reporting in the region with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Texas Trees Foundation (“Texas Trees”) announced findings from the 2017 Dallas Urban Heat Island Effect report, a year-long study of the impacts and implications of air temperatures at the neighborhood level. Most notable among them: Dallas is heating up faster than every city in the country except for Phoenix.

NRG Energy operates the Cedar Bayou EcoCenter on Galveston Bay in Texas to increase public awareness of the needs of the ecosystem, offer wetland education and develop solutions for coastal issues and restoration.

As a member of the company’s employee-led Green Committee, Susan Goodsell applies her communications skills to help promote Aflac’s environmental sustainability initiatives and activities. This chapter showcases our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint through education, community activities and volunteerism.

In this year’s report, Aflac employees and independent sales agents who have embodied the theme, Everyone has the power to do good, share stories about Aflac’s commitment to ethics, a happy and diverse workplace, philanthropy and environmental sustainability.

Much has changed in the 10 years since CBRE began measuring and reporting on its corporate responsibility activities. Perhaps no single aspect of the knowledge gained is as crucial as this recognition:

All business activity has impacts, and the most responsible companies are those that closely align their corporate responsibility efforts with their specific business activities.