Yesterday was an extraordinary day if you are of British nationality or are living in the UK. David Cameron became new prime minster. Here is the link to the BBC website for more information. For me this change in government here in the UK brings up the big question which is so difficult to answer.
What should the relationship between governments and the CSR/ Sustainability field be? And by this I mean each and every government across the globe. Not just the UK government of course.
I am not a political expert and would never dream of getting into a political debate. But I realized today that I have not written a blog post about this topic so far and I feel that this topic is very important to discuss. So today seems a good day to write about this difficult and very sensitive topic (for some people). Please also note that the following points purely reflect my opinion based on my experience working in this field.The role of governments from across the globe with regards to Sustainability / CSR as I see it:
- Governments need to be involved to a higher degree in the Sustainability / CSR affairs of companies nationally. I believe that government rules/legislation, taking the country context into consideration, is essential to the future success of the Sustainability / CSR field. I know that this is a highly sensitive topic but the past has shown that no role of the government does not really work in my opinion. Business will not thrive to me more responsible. The government amongst other influencers of course need to play its role.
- But at the same time governments need to take a gentle lead. Not forcing but also not tolerating to much flexing of the rules by companies with regards to Sustainability / CSR practices and corporate spin.
- Once this gentle lead has been established governments needs to start listen more to what the companies and individuals in the field are saying in order to promote innovation and progress.
These are the three main points I feel would be important to promote Sustainability / CSR across the globe. The important aspect here is that they all work in a close partnership and not as separate entities. Just like the new political coalition here in the UK, companies and the government need to form a partnership in order to achieve overall progress.
The points above are not rocket science and are pretty straight forward. But as I stated in previous posts, innovation and working in a partnership will bring us a long way and I feel that a bigger steer from governments can provide more structure and certainty for the professional field as a whole.
Related posts:
- The CSR Minister post disappears – On the devaluation of the UK leadership in responsible business practice
- How can we rebuild trust in the Sustainability / CSR field?
- Video: What you need to find a job in CSR / Sustainability field
- Are we really at the Sustainability / CSR tipping point Mr Ban Ki-moon?
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