Regulate corporate social responsibility
The article identified the impact company behaviour can have on communities, from food security and damage to human health to contaminated water sources - even where a company claims to be acting responsibly.
There is a problem with the rhetoric of corporate social responsibility. Some companies shouting the loudest about their corporate virtues are also among those inflicting continuing damage on communities where they work - particularly poor communities.
A recent Christian Aid report - Behind the mask: the real face of corporate social responsibility - on the activities of Shell in Nigeria, British American Tobacco in Kenya and Coca-Cola in India reveals that the image of companies working hard to make the world a better place is too often just that - a carefully manufactured image. Our research demonstrates that too often the commitments of big business to responsible behaviour are not the reality in practice on the ground.
Christian Aid is calling for binding national and international regulation to ensure the enforcement of real social responsibility in the corporate world.
Niamh Garvey
Policy and Advocacy Officer
Christian Aid Ireland
17 Clanwilliam Terrace
Dublin 2
