Treehugger on lobbying and sustainable development

10 Sep 2007 – SA in the News

From the article:
SustainAbility’s most recent report, Coming in from the Cold: Public affairs and corporate responsibility (produced with WWF and Blueprint Partners) finds that investors are increasingly interested in the reporting of a company’s lobbying practices as a demonstration of social responsibility and good management – 65% of investors considered public affairs criteria in assessing companies and 83% said companies were not providing enough information on public affairs activities. The research also found new drivers for transparency and consistency in the area of lobbying related to reputational risks. For example, technology has opened up new channels for society to scrutinize companies’ lobbying practices in real-time online.

According to SustainAbility, there are signals of change, with a sizable jump in companies that are responding to these pressures. Research conducted this year found that 14 out of the top 50 reporting companies were doing a good job at reporting on lobbying practices, up from zero in a survey conducted just two years before.

Read the full article at treehugger.com.