中国企业社会责任（英文）

Research companies: Beijing IPSOS Advisory Co., Ltd China Credit Information Service Ltd. April 2010 Chinese Companies in the 21st Century (II) A Survey on the Social Responsibility & Sustainability of Chinese Companies 2 Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................................... 3 About the Research.......................................................................................................................................... 4 Summary............................................................................................................................................................ 5 Detailed Findings............................................................................................................................................. 6 I.The Importance of Environmental Protection Has Been Recognized........................ 6 II.Attention to the Environment is Driven by Both External and Internal Factors... 7 III.Technology Innovation Will Be the Key for Chinese Companies Playing Leading Role in the World's Market................................................................... 8 IV.Sustainable Development Strategy and Actions............................................................. 9 V. Most Companies Don't Disclose Environmental Information................................. 15 VI.Knowledge of Environmental Concepts Is Positive And Half Has Intentions to Cooperate with NGOs.......................................................................................................... 16 3 Preface Five years after its first survey of the corporate social responsibility and sustainability of Chinese companies, WWF China finished its second survey on this issue: Chinese Companies in the 21st Century (II). The 2009 survey is expected to enhance understanding of the changes needed in Chinese companies on the path towards sustainability. It will enable WWF to provide strategic advice and support to these companies by allowing better mutual understanding of intentions and challenges. In the past five years, there have been tremendous changes in both China and the rest of the world. Issues of great importance concerning world development and human survival, such as the global economic crisis and climate change, are making people more and more conscious of the significance and urgent need for sustainable development. Developing in sustainable ways will be a long journey fraught with difficulty. Sustainable development, innovation and responsibility have become key concepts in this global endeavour. The survey in 2009 found that many companies have confidence in China leading the world economy. Companies with global vision have adopted the notion of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development as important strategy for long- term development. More and more companies have recognized the business benefits arising from energy saving and other environmental solutions, i.e. the pursuit of sustainability, no less than of social responsibility, makes sound business sense. Thanks to the efforts of various stakeholders, including government, media and NGOs, some new concepts, such as low carbon business and ecological footprint, have been recognized by 40% of the interviewees within the past five years. We are pleased to celebrate these exciting improvements. However, the challenge is that efforts for innovative solutions are still far from sufficient. The companies that have initiated innovations are still limiting their ideas about innovation to within the individual company, rather than thinking in terms of multi-company and trans-sectoral innovation. This limits realization of the potential commercial and social benefits. The findings of the survey will help WWF enhance its cooperation with companies seeking to strengthen both their pursuit of sustainability and their competitiveness in the global marketplace. WWF China (World Wide Fund for Nature) 4 About the Research In 2005, WWF published Chinese Companies in the 21st Century, a report based on a research project set up by WWF in order to deepen understanding of Chinese companies’ notions of and attitudes towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development. The 2009 research and findings reported in Chinese Companies in the 21st Century-II show how these notions and attitudes have changed over the past five years. This survey was conducted via telephone interviews covering 10 major Chinese industries, such as oil & gas, telecommunications, IT, finance and manufacturing. The target companies were leading companies that are Chinese-owned or joint ventures of which the Chinese partners own more than 50%. The interviewees were middle and senior management responsible for corporate social responsibility, public relations, sustainability and environmental issues. The researchers called 1,000 companies, of which 200 provided all or most of the information requested. 5 First, in terms of corporate a w a r e n e s s o f C S R , environmental protection is regarded as the most i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t b y 98% of the respondents. This is mainly because it is a legal requirement s t i p u l a t e d b y t h e government (84%), a part of corporate culture and strategy (83%), and is a brand image necessity (79%). A n a l y s i s s h o w s t h a t companies with actual or in tended overseas development formulate bus iness p lans based on domes t i c f ac to r s , especially government requirements, as much as external factors, while c o m p a n i e s w i t h o u t overseas development pay much greater attention to government requirements. Chinese companies are increasingly emphasizing environmental protection, and many consider it to be a corporate ‘core value’ (54% in 2005, 83% in 2009). S e c o n d , i n t e r m s o f sustainable development strategy, much needs to be improved in terms of both general awareness and corporate planning and development. Viewing the Chinese economy as a whole, although most companies feel confident that Chinese companies can lead and have their say in the world economy in the future, half of them agree that to do this they must first strengthen technological innovation, rather than simply continue to be ‘the world’s factory’. However, there exist differences between the positive expectations held by corporations and their practices in reality. When asked which aspect of environmental protection is most important, relatively few companies said it was innovation. Most companies place higher importance on such things as, ‘Abide by national & local laws or standards on environmental protection’ (77%), ‘Reduce energy consumption’ (65%) and ‘Reduce pollutant discharges’ (62%). Only 32% of them suggested that technological innovation could be developed as a solution to reduce energy and natural resources consumption. Only 9% of the companies mentioned that they cooperate with other companies to find solutions for sustainable development. More needs to be done to effectively implement sustainable development strategies, rather than merely paying lip-service to the concept. Ninety-two percent of companies claim to have formulated a sustainable development strategy, but only 50% of them have assigned departments or staff to be responsible for the coordination and management of sustainability and environmental protection. The most frequent approaches to this issue are passive, primarily donation (91%) and organizing employees for CSR events (77%). Forty percent of the companies take a more direct approach to environmental issues by, for example, donating to environmental protection projects. Additionally, proactive innovation of environmental protection and leading other companies is not yet popular, although 1/3 of the companies have started to pay more attention to ‘green’ innovation and hope to be leaders in environmental protection. Companies with special departments for sustainable development or those with overseas strategies focus more on sustainable development and support this with related activities, such as donating to environmental protection projects and developing innovative solutions to reduce pollution. Improvement is needed in inter-corporate business: Less than 50% of domestic companies take into consideration the environmental impacts of potential investment partners. By publicizing corporate environmental impacts, enterprises can let the public monitor them. So far, this is not accepted by most companies in China. One fifth of the companies release regular CSR reports, but only 7% provide standardized information on carbon discharges to international organizations. Thirdly, companies acknowledge the importance of environmental concepts, especially those of climate change and carbon emissions. This acknowledgement is in part driven by, and shows the importance of, public opinion and PR concerns, as well as government leadership. Currently, companies focus on climate change (88%) and carbon emissions related concepts, including reducing urban carbon intensity (72%), low carbon business (70%) and Climate Savers (61%). Most companies are not aware of cooperation with NGOs and similar agencies. Just over half of the companies are unclear about whether they should cooperate with NGOs for environmental protection. Only 21% of companies said they already do, or intend to discuss the possibility thereof. Nearly a third do not want to cooperate with an NGO. Summary 6 Detailed Findings I. The Importance of Environmental Protection Has Been Recognized Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the obligations to society at large that companies should take on when operating their business. It means that, while making profits and benefiting shareholders, a company should also act responsibly towards its staff, society and the environment. It is a broad concept that includes observing business ethics, promoting occupational health, protecting employees’ legal rights, efficient use of resources and not polluting the environment. In China, widespread public and corporate awareness of this concept only began to arise in the mid-1990s. Most half the 200 companies that took part in the survey said environmental protection is an important factor in terms of CSR, about twice as many as those who identified economic contributions and benefits to society as important. This is very similar to the findings from the 2005 survey. It indicates that companies continue to pay attention to environmental issues. unit: % n=200 Ethical compliance Supporting China’s new rural development Contributing to a harmonious society Respecting staff rights Donating to charity Supporting education improvement Participating in community activities Contributing to environmental protection Contributing to China’s economy 47 46 30 28 26 14 8 6 98 Links: China Corporate Citizenship Report (2009) points out that companies and industries produce about 70% of the environmental pollution in China. Corporate Social Responsibility is key to this problem, for a polluted environment is harmful to the public. Any company that aims at lasting development needs a healthy environment. Protecting the environment improves companies’ operational conditions and benefits their long- term development. Protecting the environment should not be a form of compensation paid only after economic advancement; instead, it should be seen as an indispensable social responsibility to be assumed at the beginning of every company’s development. Chart 1: Which are of importance to your company in terms of CSR? 7 II. Attention to the Environment is Driven by Both External and Internal Factors Protecting the environment is regarded as the most important element of corporate social responsibility. This is the result of external influences and the internal consciousness of the company. The main external influence is the enforcement of governmental requirements. The second most important external influence is customers’ requests. The main internal factor promoting environmental protection is that it is part of core company values. Clearly, environmental protection as a key part of company strategy, including enhancement of the company’s brand image, generally reflects both internal and external factors. Compared with the 2005 survey results, the importance placed on environmental issues has become more defined. In 2005, about half of the respondents included these issues as part of core company strategy. The 2009 survey found that this proportion had risen to 83%. Moreover, there is now a better understanding of the relationship between environmental protection and business cost/benefit ratios. Fifty-nine of the companies surveyed now agree that reducing consumption of energy can in turn save on costs. In 2005, only 18％ of the companies held this point of view. In addition, as noted above, ‘customer requests’ have become an external driver encouraging companies to pay more attention to environmental issues. The companies are gradually looking at environmental protection in terms of cost/benefit analysis rather than as a pure burden. unit: % n=196 16% 26% 18% 54% - - 28% 83 79 59 51 41 32 84Government requirements Company’s core strategy and value Promote brand image Save costs by saving energy Customer requests Promote sales Increase exports Chart 2: Links: The China Corporate Social Responsibility Development Index Report (2009) (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) shows that few companies in China are ‘at the starting stage’, while most others are ‘watching’. Why do you think environmental issues are important to your company? Survey result in 2005 8 On average, companies with overseas development plans pay equal importance to both internal and external factors. They are also more likely to regard environmental protection as a core strategy and value. To companies with no overseas development plans, government requirements are more important. So NGOs may consider cooperating with the former ones at the start. Unit: % No. of samples 88 83 66 61 50 49 89 96 79 84 73 53 35 14 35 76 Plan to open factories or start business overseas No plan to open factories or start business overseas Promote sales Company’s core strategy and value Government requirements Promote brand image Save costs by saving resources Customer demand Increase exports III. Technology Innovation Will Be the Key for Chinese Companies Playing Leading Role in the World’s Market Most companies expressed strong confidence in China’s leading the global economy in the 21st century (Chart 3). Although China has played a major, growing role in the global economy for some years, only a few of its companies can yet be said to be global. This is in part a result of China’s ‘factory role’ on the industrial value chain. High technology and value are still mostly controlled by foreign companies, which have long paid more attention to technological innovation than their Chinese counterparts. Half of the companies emphasized that technological innovation is of the greatest urgency (see Chart 4). 9 IV. Sustainable Development Strategy and Actions Most companies have sustainable development strategy Ninety-two percent of the companies said that, for their long-term improvement and development, they have adopted a sustainable development strategy (Chart 5). Yes No Not clear 65% 10% 25% unit: % n=200 unit: % n=200 Technological innovation Corporate management HR management Strategy of sustainable development Environmental protection Not clear 13 12 12 9 7 49 Chart 3: Chart 4: Do you think China’s business would play a leading role in the world economy in the 21st century? What are the most urgent improvement needed for Chinese companies’ leading the global economy? Links: I n t h e s i t u a t i o n o f e c o n o m i c g l o b a l i z a t i o n , t h e r e a r e s t r o n g interactions among the economy, society and the environment. Corporate Social Responsibility is both a vital approach to and a significant part of sustainable development , so i t has become a strategic choice for companies’ long- term development. Chart 5: unit: % n=200 Yes No Not clear 92%2% 6% Do you have a sustainable development strategy? 10 As previously noted, companies that have overseas development plans tend to pay more attention to sustainable development and environmental protection. Over 60% of these companies have departments dedicated solely to this work. unit: % n=185 he Most are Environment or Executive departments, or t joint efforts of a few related departments. 44% 51% 5% Yes No Not clear unit: % n=90 Yes No Not clear 63% 8%29% unit: % n=76 Yes No Not clear 22%75% 3% Have no plan to open factories or start business overseas Have plan to open factories or start business overseas Chart 6: Delegated Responsibilities for sustainable development Despite the fact that a great majority of companies claim to have sustainable development strategies, less than half have an assigned department and personnel that are responsible for the coordination or management of that strategy. In half of the companies, this task is part of the work of the environment or executive department, or jointly shared by several departments. Is there an assigned department in charge of coordinating the implementation of sustainable development strategy ? 11 Philanthropy is the major CSR activity Regarding sustainable development and corporate social responsibility, the main activities of the companies are philanthropic donation, staff engagement and legal compliance. This shows that the corporate social responsibility of Chinese companies is still at the initial stage. Chart 7: unit: % n=200 77 59 40 39 32 91Philanthropic donation to poverty,natural disaster victims and education Employee engagement in social welfare activities Legal standards compliance Donation to environmental projects Reduce negative environmental impacts through innovative solutions Not only work out innovative solutions internally, but also inspire other companies to take action Companies with assigned departments and staff for coordination of sustainability work have done more work than those without assigned departments and staff. The former ones deliver more innovative solutions to environmental issues. What actions have been taken to achieve the goals of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility? Links: More than one third of companies have started applying internal innovative solutions to reduce negative environmental impacts, as well as to influence other companies in their sector to adopt such policies. With the influence of these leading companies and the efforts of the government and NGOs, companies are expected to pay more attention to innovation in both products and services. 12 Companies with plans to open factories or start business overseas have done more work than those without, among which is solving environmental problems through innovative means. Companies with assigned department or staff for sustainability Companies with no assigned department or staffs for sustainability Philanthropic donation to poverty,natural disaster, education Employee engagement in social welfare activities Legal standards compliance Donation to environmental pro