China has been embroiled in a series of embarrassing product safety scandals over the last month prompting the authorities to impose strict new safety standards to satisfy consumer concerns and protect the global “Made in China” brand. At the same time large swaths of the country have been acutely feeling the reality of climate change and environmental degradation, as floods and landslides have devastated parts of the central and southern provinces. If that hasn’t been enough at the year mark before the Olympics finally start in Beijing, the issues of human rights and air pollution have also hit center stage.
It’s not the first time such headlines have made the international news wires. But perhaps the latest incidents will have shifted attention within the business community. Just maybe they will have encouraged Chinese businesses to begin managing their environmental, social and economic impacts and move towards sustainable business models.
Sustainability reporting is an integral part of a sustainable business model and confers many benefits on businesses These include facilitating the benchmarking of companies within and across sectors and improving efficiency through identification of social, economic and environmental operational shortcomings and inefficiencies. Given the current scandals for Chinese companies, sustainability reporting more importantly builds customer confidence in a company’s brand, products and services.
Interest in sustainability issues and more specifically sustainability reporting is growing within this emerging superpower. Only last month there was a well attended CSR reporting conference held in Beijing. To coincide with the conference A Journey to Discover Values - a study of sustainability reporting in China was published by Syn Tao with the support of Oxfam (Hong Kong). It found that 18 sustainability reports were issued in China in 2006, and predicts the number to rise this year.
While some companies in China are caught up with concerns over the safety of their merchandise, others should be differentiating themselves in the global marketplace by promoting their sustainable credentials. Sustainability reporting can be used as a method to mend the damaged “Made in China” brand.
Katherine Miles Hill
Communications Coordinator
GRI
The G3 Guidelines are now available via the GRI Portal in Mandarin.