Comments on: The CSR Minister post disappears – On the devaluation of the UK leadership in responsible business practice

By: Is the BP disaster a disaster for the Sustainability / CSR sector in general? « 3BL Media's Commentary and News

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:46:29 +0000

[...] The BP example has shown that big business will not act responsibly if it can get away with it. We therefore need to start at the local level to convince businesses to demand a more responsible business practice from all their businesses they are involved with. Customers and suppliers. Sustainability / CSR starts at the micro level and with clear guidance and support from a governmental level as I argued in my previous post. [...]

By: FabianPattberg

FabianPattberg — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:56:13 +0000

Thanks for this link Andrew. I will check it out. Have a great weekend.

By: andrewdakers

andrewdakers — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:46:44 +0000

Fabian - posted my thoughts here: http://www.andrewdakers.com/profiles/blogs/the-...

Best, Andrew

By: Gareth Kane

Gareth Kane — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:08:12 +0000

http://www.terrainfirma.co.uk/blog/2010/05/does...

By: Great Green Blog Posts for the Week: 6/18/10 | Sustainablog

Great Green Blog Posts for the Week: 6/18/10 | Sustainablog — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 16:44:01 +0000

[...] but the new coalition government has yet to fill this post. Fabian Pattberg discusses the new government’s foot-dragging on this position… and ways to make this post more [...]

By: FabianPattberg

FabianPattberg — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:04:24 +0000

Thanks for the comment Gareth. Interesting that you never heard of the CSR Minister post. Do you by any chance have a link for the 'Green side of CSR' and the intentions of the coalition?

By: Gareth Kane

Gareth Kane — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:37:58 +0000

The previous Labour Government was notorious for creating Ministers for Anything They Can Think Of in order to increase "the payroll vote" as Ministers are expected to vote with the Government or resign. Despite working in this space and hearing endless dreary Ministerial/Shadow Ministerial speeches, I had never heard of a Minister for CSR.

So, do we need a minister for CSR? If CSR is to be mainstreamed in business, there is a good argument it should be mainstreamed in Government. I have heard the now Business Secretary Vince Cable speak on such issues many times (I'm should say I'm a Lib Dem member and councillor) and his commitment and understanding shows the lip service paid by most MPs to this agenda for what it is.

I disagree with Peter. The Coalition Government has put together a very ambitious agenda for the green side of CSR in particular. David Cameron says he wants it to be the greenest Government ever and I believe he is serious. I think he feels that he can use this and the international development agendas to keep the middle ground and avoid getting dragged to the right by the neocon/eurosceptic/climate-change-denying wing of his party.

By: BP - a disaster for the Sustainability / CSR sector in general? | FabianPattberg.com

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:01:57 +0000

By: FabianPattberg

FabianPattberg — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:30:28 +0000

Thanks for the comment Peter. Interesting that you are bringing up the Tory (conservative party) argument. This is the link for all non UK visitors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Party...)
I always thought that David Cameron (the current prime minister) was in some way pro CSR really. This clearly does not seem to be the case.

By: Peter@Sax

Peter@Sax — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:23:17 +0000

I believe that changing the face of UK enterprise to encourage greater social responsibility needs a strong focus in government. However, with a Tory party who wish to roll back the state, then I fear that social responsibility will simply be seen as a hinderance to that process. The Tory's have never understood that the free market does not deliver fairness and equity and that it is the role of government to ensure that the excesses of the market are controlled to deliver greater good for greater numbers. I do not see an injection of sprinkling of liberal democrats in government as a means of ensuring these objectives.