The Valentín de Madariaga - MP
Foundation has been contributing
to the daily newspapers of the Joly
Group to promote the values of
Corporate Social Responsibility. One of the
areas of the foundation, the Sustainability
Area, has specialised in producing the
Sustainability Reports which some
companies, still very few, publish in line
with the standards of the Global Reporting
Initiative. These reports include the “triple
bottom line” criteria, which are economic,
social and environmental. Because of the
value which we believe it to have, we have
reproduced the article on this subject here,
published with the signature of the Vice-
President, Carmen Calleja de Pablo.
REPORTS
One of the most effective tools for
embarking on the path of Corporate Social
Responsibility is to publish a Sustainability
Report that meets the criteria of the Global
Reporting Initiative. The GRI is recognised
globally as the author of the methodological
parameters for presenting a report which
is acceptable in terms of CSR. The report
is the tool which enables any individual to
find out whether companies are acting in
an ethical manner in the course of their
business activities. This is why it is so
important that companies put their efforts
and some resources into publishing this
report. Moreover, it is also for this reason
that publishing this report obliges companies
to consistently meet CSR standards, due to
the transparency that they voluntarily offer
to demonstrate.
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Only two private Andalusian companies
have published a Sustainability Report:
one listed on the stock market and
the other an unlisted company: MP
Corporación Industrial.
According to the GRI’s database, in 2007,
less than 100 Spanish companies published
sustainability reports. Of these, less than
10 were Andalusian. Errors and omissions
excepted, if we discount public companies
and savings banks, we are left with only two
private Andalusian companies which have
published a report: one listed on the stock
market, Abengoa, and the other an unlisted
company, MP Corporación Industrial.
The difficulties of preparing such a report
are understandable, in addition to the
considerable commitment involved in
demonstrating such a level of transparency.
Only companies of a certain size can afford
to dedicate resources to this initiative.
A good way for public authorities to show
that they are contributing to CSR would be
by sponsoring these reports. This would
encourage the publication of these reports
more effectively than imposing regulations
or standards. |