Despite continuing
uncertainty about the world’s economy, results from the
“BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Poll 2010” released
today show more than eight in 10 respondents (84 percent) believe
global businesses will embrace CSR/sustainability as part of their
core strategies and operations in the next five years.

Nearly all (94 percent) of the 377 respondents, drawn from a
majority of BSR’s global network of more than 250 member companies,
also said that their companies plan to maintain or increase their
budgets for CSR / sustainability programs in the year ahead, and
nearly three-quarters expect to increase the amount of internal and
external CSR/sustainability communications as well.

“When the recession hit with full force two years ago, we urged
our members to stick with sustainability as a key to achieving
long-term business success,” said BSR President and CEO Aron
Cramer.

“It’s very encouraging to see that, even in a world still marked
by instability and change, they’re staying the course.”

“BSR member companies continue to demonstrate a strong
commitment to sustainable business,” said Chris Coulter, senior
vice president at GlobeScan, which conducted the survey on behalf
of BSR. “These findings will reinforce the direction that many
leadership companies are headed, and prompt others to join
them.”

The survey was released today at the start of the BSR Conference
2010, where more than 1,000 senior business executives,
entrepreneurs, and leaders from the public sector and civil society
are gathered to focus on integrating CSR and sustainability
practices into strategy and core business.

Top Sustainability Priorities in Year Ahead: Climate Change,
Labor/Human Rights

The business leaders surveyed cite climate change, workers’
rights, and human rights as the top priorities for their companies’
CSR/sustainability efforts in the year ahead.

Climate change remains an important focus of these efforts, with
63 percent of respondents selecting it more than any other issue as
either a “significant” or “very significant” priority.

However, the urgency around climate change appears to have
decreased from last year, when the Copenhagen climate summit was
approaching: The proportion of respondents who considered it a
“very significant” priority declined from 41 percent in 2009 to 27
percent this year-a drop from first on the list to third.

Social issues advanced in the rankings this year, with workers’
righttaking the most notable jump, moving to the top of the list of
“very significant” priorities (selected by 32 percent) for
companies’ CSR/sustainability efforts in the year ahead, followed
by human rights (31 percent),href=”http://www.bsr.org”>   climate change (27
percent), and water quality/availability (19 percent) on the list
of “very significant” priorities.

Underscoring the increased attention to social and economic
questions, workers’ rights and human rights are the only two issue
areas among a list of seven where the proportion of respondents who
considered it to be a “very significant priority” has remained
stable or increased compared to 2009.

Drivers of Public Trust, Business Leadership, and Ongoing
Success

Respondents believe that business continues to experience a lack
of trust from the public and identified three important actions
companies should take to address this gap: “measuring and
demonstrating positive social and environmental impacts” (selected
by 54 percent of respondents); “increasing the transparency of
business practices” (53 percent); and “responding promptly and
effectively to accidents, product quality issues, and other
incidents” (43 percent).

Respondents were also asked to pick the three areas where
companies are demonstrating the most leadership today, and the
three actions that will drive ongoing business success.

Both questions yielded the same top three responses: “creating
innovative products and business models designed for
sustainability” was selected most often (by 40 percent for
leadership, and by 66 percent for business success); followed by
“measuring and demonstrating positive social and environmental
impacts” (selected by 39 percent for both); and “responding
promptly and effectively to accidents product quality issues, and
other incidents” (35 percent and 39 percent, respectively).