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October 12, 2006
Global Compact Aligns with GRI and the Practical Side of the Change Agenda
by Bill Baue
In part two of this two-part interview, SocialFunds.com speaks with Georg Kell about new alliances
facilitating Communication on Progress reporting as well as broader issues facing the Global
Compact.
SocialFunds.com --
In the wake of announcing the de-listing of 335 companies, the Global Compact also announced new alliances to
facilitate Communication on Progress (COP) reporting. At the
unveiling of the third generation sustainable reporting guidelines (dubbed G3) by the Global Reporting Initiative, the Global
Compact announced its alliance with GRI by releasing a guide on how to use G3 in preparing a COP. The Global Compact has also
allied with SRI World Group to launch the OneReport COP Publisher, a free web-based
tool for generating COPs. (Disclosure: SRI World Group publishes SocialFunds.com.)
SocialFunds.com speaks with Georg Kell, executive director of Global Compact, about these
alliances as well as alignments between the Compact and broader corporate social responsibility
(CSR) issues.
SocialFunds.com: How do you see the Global Compact COP, the GRI, and the
OneReport tool working together?
Georg Kell: First, the OneReport tool is just what it
says--it's a tactical tool aimed basically at first-time COP reporters.
The link between
the Global Compact and GRI is very important--in part because it's a non-exclusive link. We're not
saying you must use GRI if you participate in the Compact--we're saying you can, and indeed
we recommend you use GRI. In order to have a better basis for comparability over time, we think
it's useful to slowly converge towards a platform.
But we recognize that in certain
economies, they use other benchmarks that are equally good, and we accept them as well. Some
companies are just starting to develop their own internal benchmarks--if they make them public, we
welcome that as well.
SF: There was some perception, particularly in the activist
community, of the Global Compact lacking teeth. How does the de-listing help demonstrate the teeth
that the Global Compact has?
GK: First, we always have objected to this criticism because
it criticizes us for something we never pretended to be. We never claimed to have teeth to
bite--we always argued, from the very beginning, the Compact is about learning, dialogue, and
partnership. The only contribution we really can make is to help establish the business case for
applying the principles.
Nevertheless, we accept the charge that even a voluntary
initiative needs integrity measures. Our Integrity Measures mean, in
essence, protecting the investments of those who take the initiative seriously versus those who
potentially abuse it or are not seriously engaged. So for us the COP is a very important tool to
ensure that the brand of the initiative is protected, that the investments made by those
participants who genuinely engage in the initiative by changing their management systems and
corporate strategies at headquarters and at subsidiaries around the world, are protected against
those participants who do not really embark on a change agenda but simply sign on a letter.
SF: In addition to the COP component, what are other important components of the Integrity
Measures?
GK: We have through our local networks and through our core UN partner agencies
the ability to deal with what we call 'dilemma situations' that cause major concern. Through local
learning forums, which we now have in 63 countries, such dilemmas are being discussed and solutions
are being found. In rare cases, we use our good office here to remind participants about the
commitment they have made to the Compact and what this entails. And in very rare cases, we ask
other UN agencies to look into these issues in greater detail. Every year we have probably 15 to
20 such situations.
But we have many more issues being discussed and solved at the local
level. This is where the future lies, because whenever you have a problem, you want to find a
solution. If you are on the practical side of the change agenda, as we are, and not the judgmental
side, because we have no court, no legislative coercive mechanism, then the issue is really to find
a solution with NGOs, business, and others on the local level. Here, the good news is that this is
increasingly happening and that the local networks are very good tools for that.
SF: How
does the Global Compact fit into the bigger picture of corporate social responsibility and
sustainability?
GK: Looking forward on the whole movement, I do believe that corporate
responsibility is at a crossroads--on the one hand, it has gone global and has mainstreamed, but on
the other hand, it is running the risk of fizzling out because many actors involved are now
becoming professional service providers, and the question is, what does it all add up to? This is
why we proposed the alliances and the call to CSR organizations to preserve the public goods face
of corporate responsibility and to make sure it remains connected to the broader aspirations that
the movement brought into existence in the first place. So I think it's important that we
recognize that if corporate social responsibility is to add up to more than performance improvement
of some companies, if it is to have an impact on global markets contributing to more beneficial
business-society relationships, then it's absolutely necessary now to support the global frameworks
that already have traction and which stand for open-source, public good frameworks--we have only
two, and this is why we formed this alliance between the Global Compact and GRI.
The
response from many organizations around the world is extremely encouraging and positive. I think
that call to action has been heard. We dub this alliance the 'Big Bet' because the big bet is
that Global Compact and GRI will be successful at a truly global level if CSR organizations
recognize that it pays off for them and the broader good to align themselves more explicitly with
these two initiatives, whether it's in provision of tools, whether it's in research and analysis
and service provisions, and so forth.
SF: So you're seeing a globalized mainstreaming and
acceptance of CSR. Am I hearing you right that it's important that there remains advocacy…
GK: Absolutely. The movement must remain connected to some broader aspirational goals--what I
call a public good dimension of the movement--because if it just goes downstream, commercial,
compartmentalized, professionalized, then we're losing sight of the bigger picture and we no longer
maintain a link between corporate social responsibility and the broader objectives it as designed
to contribute to in the first place.
SF: So the danger is that CSR becomes just a business
move instead of something that truly addresses sustainability?
GK: Exactly.
SF:
Georg, thank you very much for speaking with me.
GK: You're most welcome.
In
part one
of this two-part interview, SocialFunds.com speaks with Georg Kell about the de-listing of 335
companies from the Global Compact for failing to issue Communication on Progress reports.
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SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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