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Nick Andrews, Managing Director of the Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) in North America, was welcomed to participate on the Voice America program, on August 25th to discuss how sustainability relates to greater trust in business.
Before business can begin to rebuild the economy, greater trust with consumers and society must be developed. On the show, Mr. Andrews discussed how Sustainability could garner greater trust in business, by applying the fundamental concepts of sustainability to the everyday core operations of a business. The example of greater stakeholder engagement into the decision-making process of a company and greater transparency into the holistic performance of a company through sustainability reporting are ways mentioned to support greater trust.
Also discussed was the role of government in enforcing greater sustainable business practices and how that may play out. Mr. Andrews spoke about the recent endorsement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as a preferred framework for sustainability reporting. After heavy lobbying, the SEC decided to support this type of reporting in 2009. Also, the upcoming Green Marketing Guidelines of the Federal Trade Commission to combat green washing, or the exaggerated environmental claims in order to curry consumer favor, was another act towards reinforcing greater sustainability in business discussed on the show by Mr. Andrews. The FTC is focusing on reducing the amount of confusion present in the marketplace around environmental claims by revamping its guidelines for communicating such messages.
The interview focused on sustainability and trust in business, by briefly touching up on a number of different topics in sustainable business practices.
“Trust Across America” is a national initiative developed by Barbara and Jordan Kimmel. Its mission is to rebuild trust in public companies throughout the US, and to provide a forum for companies to share their best practices.
