Dear Experts and Friends in CSR and Sustainability: The high rank German Council for Sustainable Development has prepared recommendations for the German government and trade and industry regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These recommendations list the next steps for advancing the corporate policy of sustainability development. There are three recommendations to the German Government: - Redefine the regulatory framework - Make the German CSR Profile clearer - Embrace the challenges of CSR. Most interesting are the ideas regarding the regulatory framework: The concil belives that a double foundation needs to be considered: ?..by developing the procedurale rules, the regulatory framework of the [..] economy should be developed in such a way that enterprises voluntarily undertaking CSR activities reap the benefits in the face of competition. But this does not mean to add ?specific CSR Standards to existing environmental and social standards? according the recommendation. To facilitate competition the council suggests to ?create a binding framework to enable a proper comparison f the sustainability and CSR reports compiled by companies. This task of the state.? (A task already the EU failed in 2005 due to severe lobbying of business associations.) There also three recommendations to business. The recommendations of the council are full of interesting views and suggestions and are definitely worth reading also with regard to other countries. More information and download of the recommendations (German and English) at http://www.nachhaltigkeitsrat.de/projects/csr/index.html Contacts: Dr. Bachmann Office of the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) Ph.: +49 / 30 / 25491-781 E-Mail: guenther.bachmann@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For comments from an industry initiative : Thomas Koenen, + 49 (0)30 - 2028-1474 t.koenen@xxxxxxxxxxxx For comments from conservative industry asscociation: http://www.csrgermany.de Telefon: +49 (0) 30 / 2033 0 E-Mail: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For comments from NGO: Germanwatch heydenreich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 030-28 88 35 64, Peter Fuchs, WEED, 0177/ 633 4900, peter.fuchs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx also see the new NGO Network: http://www.cora-netz.de/wp-content/uploads/founding-statement-cora-network.p df For comments from science: Thomas Loew Institute 4 Sustainability Loew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx phone: ++49/(0)30/747 52-233Of of course I am happy to give an interview on the recommendations if desired. Beste Grüße / kind regards Thomas Loew (Co-)autor of German Federal Ministry for the Environment (Ed.) (2006) Corporate Social Responsibility: An Introduction from the Environmental Perspective The Results of the European Multi Stakeholder Forum on CSR in the View of Business, NGO and Science Significance of the CSR Debate for Sustainability and the Requirements for Companies, Download at http://www.4sustainability.org/international/CSR-Publications.htm ------------------------------ Institute 4 Sustainability Lehrter Straße 46 D-10557 Berlin phone: ++49/(0)30/747 52-233 fax: ++49/(0)30/747 52-120 mobile: ++49/(0)178/6343 364 Loew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.4sustainability.org