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Details

This debate explored the boundaries of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) including its relevance to developing countries and the roles of governments and NGOs in exploring their own corporate social and environmental responsibilities. It will examine the drivers and business case for CSR, the relation between market performance and CSR, and where biodiversity fits in the CSR agenda.

Affirmative (i.e. CSR provides a window of opportunity)
Peter Forstmoser, Chairman, SwissRe
Musharaf Hai, Chairperson and CEO, Unilever Pakistan

Critical perspectives (i.e. CSR is a false hope)
Ashok Khosla, President, Development Alternatives
Marcus Colchester, Director, Forest Peoples Programme

Closing Remarks
Glenn Prickett, Executive Director, Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, Conservation International

Summary of the Debate

Corporate power and globalization are traditional targets of the activist-dominated conservation community but the Debate on Corporate Social Responsibility held at IUCN’s World Conservation Forum in Bangkok moved the largest group of conservation organizations a step closer to harnessing the power of the corporate sector to achieve key biodiversity targets.

Members and partners of IUCN debated the potential for working with the the private sector to deliver on the conservation agenda. There was resounding consensus among participants attending the debate on the need for both voluntary and regulatory approaches towards achieving performance on biodiversity and sustainable development issues. Participants attending the debate titled Corporate Social Responsibility: Help or Hindrance? highlighted the need for companies to be held accountable for delivering on CSR commitments, and conservation organizations need to establish transparent principles for engaging the private sector.

NGOs also have obligations – to embark on relationships with the private sector with a clear set of principles, to speak out about shortcomings they see with companies they work with, and to push for and achieve significant outcomes. The Debate demonstrated that the conservation community is on the “verge of a new moment of dialogue and collaboration” with the private sector, but there is a need to think about building some structures for supporting that dialogue and collaboration. These structures should contain core principles such as transparency, openness and accountability.

The Debate has launched IUCN and the world of conservation into a new era – beyond a deliberation on whether or not to engage the corporate sector and into a dialogue about how to engage corporations in the conservation agenda.