In a very literal sense Thailand has introduced new guidance where companies need to do CSR in order to retain their licence to operate.  The National Telecommunication Commission has this week warned private operators that their 3G licences could be taken away from them if they do not abide by consumer protection laws.  The CSR issues companies are expected to manage covers issues such as junk mail management, consumer health and contingency planning.  This is another part of the general trend in Asia whereby regulators are expecting CSR as a minimum requirement in order to do business.

It is very interesting that we are seeing a sudden surge of interest in ISO26000. We are running one of our ISO 26000 trainings in Singapore on Monday and we have a full house. There is interest from business and from business associations. A recent story from Korea has the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) saying that companies had better get prepared for the new standard. ISO 26000 provides a blueprint for socially responsible business practices and Korean companies are being told to get ready. The KCCI sent surveys to companies at the end of 2009 and found only a small number of companies getting prepared. However, it argues that although ISO26000 may only be a mere guideline, it has the potential influence the way  local companies export. ISO26000 will be the most comprehensive CSR standard once it is published and we at CSR Asia are already helping companies get prepared for something that is going to set the CSR agenda for the next ten years. You can see the full story from Korea here.

Al Jazeera recently aired a series of programmes titled Corporations on Trial. One of the stories focussed on the Indonesian company Lapindo Brantas and the man made disaster of a mud volcano caused by gas-drilling.  The 24 minute episode can be viewed here - it outlines what happened, the challenges to determine who was responsible, the lack of progress to provide compensation to those effected, the government involvement,  the new villages built for those effected and the tourist attraction the mud has become. Previous blogs and article posted by CSR Asia here.

I'm in the UK at the moment and the big issues are executive pay and MP's expenses.  Many institutional shareholders are raising questions about executives (through the remuneration committee) still electing to award themselves bonuses despite the fact that the performance targets haven't been met.  Governance experts are advising shareholders to vote against such awards and to closely monitor the issue of executive pay.  Similarly elected representatives are in the spotlight for their expenses claims - perhaps companies will be next to take a very close look at what their senior staff claim on expenses as well.  Ultimately the issue of trust is on the board room table and it would seem that most are choosing a big bonus above trust from employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders.

Tomorrow sees a meeting in Hong Kong to consider approving a new International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. The new standard, long overdue to my mind, aims to make the industry safer and greener. Countries are expected to agree on measures that require new ships to limit the amounts of hazardous materials they're built with and require older ships to be broken down in yards that meet certain environmental standards. The convention is also expected to require recycling facilities to be put in place, introduce measures that reduce explosions and other accidents as well ensuring workers are properly trained and provided with safety equipment. Most ships are broken down in South Asia, using cheap labour and paying scant regard to pollution that damages shorelines and beaches. The industry is responsible for countless deaths which are often covered up. Hopefully shipbuilders in the future will build with disassembly in mind. It's a tall order given the long life of many ships, but people are dying today as a result of poor decisions being made three or four decades ago.

I am in Japan at the moment and it is intersting to see huge numbers of products labeled as being environmentally responsible. From organic cotton products to Forestery Stewardship Council (FSC) certified dried mushrooms (pictured here) I am not surprised to see Japanese consumers interested in the environment. Indeed, the Japanese always have had one of the greatest awareness of environmental issues in the region and it seems are more than willing to act on that. Interestingly though, that interest now seems to be extended to social issues as well. There are plenty of fair trade products in the shops and talking to a couple of journalists over the last couple of days, it seems that there is a perception that consumers are increasingly concerned about wider agendas in relation to responsible products. As if to underline this, in today's local Daily Yomiuri, there is a long article that asks whether it is possible to purchase Indian products that are untainted by child labour. The argument being made is that child labour is so endemic in Indian primary industries and in the production of basic products, that almost no product is free from having children somewhere in the supply chain. I find it hugely encouraging that this huge consumer market seems to be growing in its social awareness. As for the FSC mushrooms, I am going to be trying them soon...

Alex Wang, a senior attorney and director of the China Environmental Law Project in Beijing, has a fascinating firsthand account of the court case involving three executives from Chengjiang Jinye Industry and Trade Co. who have been brought to trial on criminal charges relating to an arsenic spill in Yunnan during 2008. The most interesting aspect of Alex's account is the difficulty of after-the-fact prosecutions in China; the company has eight capable lawyers defending the executives (including Ma Jun, a well-known criminal defense lawyer who ironically shares the same name as a prominent environmental activist) who according to Alex were able to "pick at the central piece of evidence in the prosecution's case". The bottom line is that no matter the outcome, "government will still be on the hook for US$600 million in clean-up costs, and the locals around Yangzonghai Lake and former workers at Jinye are still facing serious health risks from the dangerous levels of arsenic in the water".

CLP Holdings has been added to the Global Dow Index and is the only Hong Kong Company that has entered both the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific 40 Index (DJSI Asia Pacific 40). CLP is one of the two Hong Kong-based listed companies newly included in the Global Dow.  The Global Dow is a 150-stock index that measures the performance of the most innovative and influential corporations from around the world. Capturing the top 20% based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria out of the largest 600 companies in the developed countries in Asia Pacific. concurrently, CLP is one of the three Hong Kong companies making it to the DJSI Asia Pacific, and the only one in Hong Kong included in the DJSI Asia Pacific 40, a subset of the Index that measures the performance of the largest 40 sustainability leaders in the region.

This is much deserved recognition for our friends at CLP. Over the years, CLP has actively responded to a range of social and investor-related surveys.  It is one of the very few companies in Hong Kong to publish Sustainability Report every year and is the only energy company in the Asia–Pacific region to have announced its voluntary commitment to combating climate change by releasing a manifesto, CLP’s Climate Vision 2050, which included carbon emissions intensity reduction targets. It is great to have a global leader in Hong Kong!

With the buzz around the launch of the the social responsibility standard, ISO26000, growing, many quality consultants have discovered CSR. They are claiming that their experience with ISO9000 makes them well placed to help with the development of ISO26000, even though their experience is in management systems and ISO26000 is not a managemet systems standard. Although ISO26000 is not intended for certification, and not even published in its final form yet, many quality consultancies are already offering certificates or finding innovative ways around this. One recent aproach to the ban on certificates that I have seen involved developing an index around ISO26000, assessing companies against the index and then awarding them a CSR logo if they participated. But worse still, the index that was constructed actually demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of CSR and missed out key elements in the draft ISO guidelines. When many years ago quality consultants got interested in the environmental management systems standard ISO14001, they often demonstrated little understanding of environmental management. Looks like the same thing is going to happen with CSR. Do not asume that quality consultants know anything about offering a quality service when it comes to CSR. They just want your money and will do anything they can to get it.

A new Sustainable Gaming Standard (LEO 8000‐200x) is being developed! The standard development committee will be charged with developing a comprehensive framework and common set of sustainability metrics for the supply and delivery chain. Key components to be explored in the standard development process include the procurement and use of more sustainable materials throughout the supply chain. The standard will provide a set of metrics that encourages continuous improvement of the environmental, social, and economic sustainability performance of gaming at all levels of the supply chain, says this report. Now whilst I am a firm believer in CSR down supply chains, hasn't someone missed the point here? Has someone forgotton about materiality? Surely, it is the use of these contraptions that we ought to be interested in? Notwithstanding the fact that these things are switched on for inordinate amounts of time, there might just be the social consequences to consider? The Leonardo Academy, who call themselves the sustainability experts, might just have missed the point here.

Malaysia now has in place a rating system called Green Building index for commercial and residential properties. The requirements under the Green Building Index are: energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, sustainable site and management, materials and resources and water efficiency. Based on these requirements, commercial buildings will be rated and then certified silver, gold or platinum. Internationally there are other green rating systems such as LEED (the United States and Canada), Energy Star (US), BREEAM (Britain), CASBEE (Japan), Green Star (Australia) and NABERS (Australia). Read more here.

Earlier this month, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) released a comprehensive Sustainability Framework to support professional accountants and their organisations in integrating a sustainable way of thinking and working in all business processes. The framework outlines how accountants can apply their skills to encourage sustainable development in organisations by incorporating strategic planning, execution and reporting that will promote sustainability’s three key elements — economic viability, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility — and the interconnectivity between them. Read more here.

Airlines are starting to recognise that they are  contributing to climate change and that they need to take action. International aviation contributes 2% or more of total CO2 pollution and is coming in for more criticism from green groups. Four international airlines,  Air France/KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic, along with airport operator BAA, are now calling for a new series of principles that the aviation sector should follow. Read more here.

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission's working committee on listed companies' corporate social responsibility plans to reveal preliminary CSR criteria to promote investment in companies with good CSR policies. Over the next few months the criteria will standardise Thailand's listed companies' CSR, says this report.  The criteria are meant primarily to help mutual funds in launching CSR funds, for investment in listed companies with clear CSR policies.

Cheap cigarettes, bought off peddlers, have been found to contain 'extra ingredients' which also include dead flies and insect eggs. One in five contraband cigarettes is likely to be a fake, made with various materials other than tobacco, said trade investigators with the International Chamber of Commerce's Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau (CIB). Much of it can be harmful. The CIB report found that 'fake smokes can contain five times the level of cadmium, six times as much lead, 160 per cent more tar and 133 per cent more carbon monoxide'. Singapore remains an attractive market for smugglers as the high tax and high retail price of cigarettes allow syndicates to make a larger margin, particularly if they sell fakes. More here.

Led by Yiwu city’s federation of trade unions, “ Yiwu's CSR standards” are being tested in Beiyuan Street, an industrial area. Thirteen benchmarking categories have been laid out, assessing corporates’ performance in areas of labour relations, environmental protection and social engagement. Participating companies will be rated in classes of A, B, C, D and E by a third party certifying body on a biannual basis. Here is the story (available in Chinese only).

Signatories to a voluntary initiative called the Singapore Packaging Agreement, collectively cut down their packaging waste by 850 metric tonnes since they joined it last June.  This was achieved by cutting down on the thickness, weight or dimensions of packaging materials, without compromising on product quality. Other measures include re-using and recycling packaging and educating customers on minimising waste. More here and background on the Agreement here.

Chinese search engine Baidu has officially announced that it has committed to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact to boost its daily management on corporate social responsibility. By joining the Global Compact, Baidu.com is committing to the ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption laid out by the initiative. Liu Meng, the China-based UN Global Compact network manager, told local media that Baidu is one the first Chinese Internet companies to join the Global Compact. Baidu has come under attack in the past 18 months for allowing illegal music downloads via its search engine links. More here.

This blog asks the Hotel Grand Central in Singapore why they have prices for all customers, except those with an Indonesian Passport. The image left shows all those rooms with rates "not applicable to Indonesian Passport holders". Is this, as the hotel website suggests, "the Art of Good Service".

Offering incentives, such as preferential loan rates to building owners who aim for higher green ratings, is just one of the suggestions from the International Panel of Experts (IPE) for Sustainability of the Built Environment. In a meeting to review the two-year-old Green Building Masterplan, the IPE, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and other experts from the building industry indicated that the Government could do more by taking the lead in procurement of green and energy efficient components, such as rainwater tanks or solar panels as this will result in economies of scale and drive down the cost for the private sector as well. Other suggestions from the panel include more R&D on green building technologies and more training for facility managers to handle the operation and maintenance of green buildings. More here.