From corporate social responsibility to corporate sustainability: moving the agenda forward In Asia and the Pacific
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a well-known concept for some time though the interpretation of this concept differs among countries, companies and stakeholders. In many cases, CSR has been abused as a marketing ploy, masking unsustainable practices of companies, in others it has simply constituted a charity event, again, often to mask the negative impacts of companies’ operations. However, the winds of change are blowing, in particular in the wake of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). Increasingly, companies are adopting sustainable business practices as an integral element of their corporate strategies, which is the true meaning of CSR. This publication looks at recent developments in CSR with particular attention to the growing role of impact investment and the need for greater convergence of global CSR instruments and provides recommendations to policymakers to enhance the adoption of CSR as an integral part of business strategy and operations.