About CSR
CSR has no unique acceptation. In its historic meaning, CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. It was born as Philanthropic activities carried on by big corporations. Over the years, it has evolved towards the wider meaning of Corporate Sustainability Reporting in order to include the environmental issues, as well as the Reporting Phase. In the European Union, we have the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) which is going to be mandatory for big companies by 2025 and enlist small companies by 2027.
Although CSR and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) are similar in meaning and in some ways they overlap, it is important to understand they are different things. The historic acceptation of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is generally something voluntary and is about the behaviour of the company towards society in general. ESG is related to a company’s behaviour that meets requirements in relation to sustainability performance and investment criteria. Corporate Sustainability Reporting (like CSRD) meets both CSR and ESG criteria thanks to standardized reporting activities.
Despite the different meanings of CSR, it is important to understand that a company, before meeting ethical and philanthropic expectations, must meet economic and legal expectations. These different levels of society’s expectations are well explained by the Pyramid of CSR by Archie B. Carrol.
We have made a well-detailed course through which you will have a clear understanding of CSR and all the related issues. You will understand the difference between Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Sustainability Reporting, and ESG (Environmental, Social and corporate Governance). You will find the different countries’ approaches around the world, and a detailed description of the European Union approach (CSRD), as well as The Indian approach toward CSR. However, every country has its own approach towards CSR. Finally, there is a lot of material (including Business cases) that will allow you to include CSR in your business strategy, and make the best Reporting of your CSR.
