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Welcome to CSR news from 05 to 09 August 2024.
This week, we'll be talking about living wages for positive social impact, greenwashing in Australia, reusing materials in the construction industry, 2024 - probably the hottest year in history, and much more.
In short, find out all the latest CSR news in our article.
Management dissonance with CSR reporting
Marion Andro and Ingrid Berthé, co-directors of the B Side communications agency, question the sometimes overly marketing-oriented and unstrategic use of CSR reporting by companies.
They point the finger at speeches that are "disconnected from reality", welcoming sustainability reports that have little impact in the real world.
They argue that stakeholders will lose confidence in CSR initiatives as a result of being confronted with discourse that is out of step with the urgent need to transform business models.
A counter-productive attitude that will ultimately undermine the legitimacy of the entire sector. So, they call for a precise, honest discourse that doesn't see certifications and sustainability reports as ends in themselves, but as levers for action to bring about change.
Decent wages: the key to positive social impact
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo, has published an article for Carenews in which she argues for the vital importance of living wages in improving the social impact of business.
In her view, this is the real way to combat growing inequality. Her diagnosis is that "too few companies pay their employees a decent wage", despite numerous studies demonstrating its benefits in terms of more dignified living conditions.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), this is a wage that enables people to purchase essential goods such as food, health, education and housing.
It's a situation we're struggling to achieve despite strong, steady economic growth that enriches shareholders, but excludes the working poor from the fair distribution of "a fair share of the productivity they generate".
AI and CSR: a good marriage overlooked by business
While most professionals recognize the potential of AI for sustainable development, the benefits of such a combination are under-exploited.
To illustrate this, we need only compare the following data: "Nearly 80% of IT managers in Europe believe that AI has a positive or neutral impact on sustainable development" "Only 9% of companies consider ethics in the use of AI to be a priority".
As a result, key issues such as the impact (both positive and negative) of AI on the climate are overlooked.
Companies therefore need to get to grips with the subject, and train professionals capable of assessing, measuring and adapting CSR policies in relation to AI.
Night shifts: a false good idea for adapting to heatwaves?
At first glance, night work appears to be an effective solution for adapting to hot weather in the most exposed professions (manual workers and farmers, for example).
Reduce heat-related risks, maintain productivity, lower energy costs, flexibility...
However, some researchers are against such initiatives.
In addition to an "often unsuitable night-time environment" at work, there are major adverse consequences for workers' health.
Working at night disrupts the biological clock and sleep patterns, increasing the "risk of cardiovascular metabolic disorders".
Finally, without prolonged exposure to daylight, and at odds with society's usual rhythms, there are major risks to workers' mental health and well-being.
Legal departments lag behind on CSR issues
The PwC 2024 ESG-RSE barometer, published by the law firm of the same name, looks at the level of CSR maturity among in-house lawyers.
Based on the results of a consultation with a panel of 100 in-house lawyers, they conclude that the latter rate their "average level of maturity" on ESG-RSE issues at 4.9/10.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of standards innovations. CSDDD, Loi Sapin II, CSRD etc. This regulatory inflation has had a significant impact on companies on the one hand, and on their legal departments on the other.
Sales and company size are entirely uncorrelated with this level of CSR maturity on the part of lawyers. In other words, they have a major responsibility to grasp these issues and integrate them legally into corporate strategy.
The law at the service of sustainable business transformation
With his book Droit social à vocation environnementale, lecturer Arnaud Casado reflects on the ways in which the law can be a decisive tool for transforming business models.
Through a survey and study of all the laws relating to the social, ethical and environmental impact of companies, this publication aims to remedy companies' "lack of knowledge of certain provisions".
Through a highly practical and directly applicable approach, it aims to continue the "environmentalization of labor law" dynamic.
For example, he explores the room for manoeuvre left to elected employee representatives through the CSE. According to him, it is capable of reorienting its social and cultural activities in favor of an overhaul of the company's internal practices and habits.
In Australia, 6.7 million euros sentenced for greenwashing
Australian retirement savings giant Mercer Superannuation has been fined a record A$11.3 million for misleading claims about the ethical and sustainable impact of its investment products.
This conviction by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) underlines the importance of greenwashing in finance.
It was the Trust's "Sustainable Plus" investment options that were incriminated. While the Trust publicly asserted their ethical and sustainable value, they actually invested in oil and alcohol giants.
This is further proof that companies need to adhere to authentic marketing, so as not to devalue the value of even the most honest CSR approaches.
2024 set to be the hottest year on record
The European Copernicus Observatory, which documents climate change, admits that there is a very high probability that 2024 will be the hottest year in the history of climate records.
As July marks the end of an unprecedented 13 consecutive months of record-breaking heat, unusually high temperatures are being recorded around the globe.
Since the beginning of the year, the global temperature is 0.27°C higher than in 2023. Without a sudden drop, there is a high probability that 2024 will be warmer than last year.
As a result of these temperatures, extreme weather events have been multiplying in recent times. Sometimes deadly heatwaves, floods, megafires, landslides... no part of the globe has been spared "the devastating effects of climate change".
The headache of re-using materials in the construction industry
The Centre Technique Industriel de la Construction Métallique (CTIM) is an organization dedicated to enhancing the technical expertise of the construction industry in the use of metals, while respecting regulatory and environmental constraints.
It supports the need to reuse metal materials, while pointing out the difficulties this systematically entails. For example, the CTIM points out that in the absence of clearly established standards for the reuse of metals, it is difficult to insure a building.
This is a key challenge, given that only 1% of all materials are reused. CTIM is aiming for a reuse rate of "10 to 15% of dismantled scrap".
However, the cost of carefully dismantling a building provides a metal that remains more expensive than new. So, we need to "massively increase reuse, to bring prices down", says Amor Ben Larbi, research project manager at CTIM.
Does air pollution have an impact on the 2024 Olympics?
We know that air pollution is becoming a major global problem, with a death toll of 8.1 million by 2023.
Yet the Paris 2024 Olympics are taking place in a city known for its frequent pollution peaks. This raises the question of the influence of air quality on athletes' performance and health.
Airparif, the organization responsible for monitoring air pollution in real time in the Paris region, explains that hot weather encourages a chemical reaction between exhaust fumes and volatile organic compounds. "This pollutant, which can cause asthma attacks and affect the respiratory system, kills around 1,700 people every year in the Paris region".
As a result, oxygen levels in the atmosphere would be reduced, with consequent effects on athletes' sporting performance, particularly during pollution peaks.
The sources
- Les Echos "CSR reporting: how to get out of schizophrenia?"
- Carenews "Why do companies that offer a living wage generate greater societal benefits?"
- RSE Magazine "AI, an under-exploited ally of sustainable development?"
- Le Monde "Heatwave: "The benefits of night work mask the negative effects on health""
- Novethic "Corporate lawyers still lack maturity on ESG and CSR".
- Le Monde "Droit social à vocation environnementale: la réglementation au service d'une transition écologique juste" (Social law with an environmental slant: regulations at the service of a fair ecological transition)
- RSE Magazine "Mercer Superannuation sanctioned for greenwashing: a record fine of 6.7 billion euros"
- Le Monde "The year 2024 is likely to be the hottest on record, according to the European observatory Copernicus"
- Sustainable news "The metal industry supports the re-use of materials".
- Green "Paris 2024: what role for air pollution in athletes' performance?"
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