New research from the Carbon Trust found that more than half of businesses surveyed have no plans for how to manage a reduction in carbon, water or waste. The article suggests some countries’ businesses are better prepared than others, but the infographic demonstrates the main issue. There is a delay between the timing of when limited resources affect businesses and when businesses’ plan to make changes according to resource scarcity.
This is one way there is a disconnect between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the rest of the world. A business can set internal CSR goals, but often these goals remain internal and disregard the reality outside of their entity.
Then the question becomes, how would one align their business with their own values or the greater goals of their community?
One school of thought is to redefine success in business. Some popular ideas in this camp include triple bottom line, B Corporations, and L3C’s. Each of these options in some way redefines how a business succeeds, often incorporating some measure of social and environmental well-being and accountability. The degree to which they are aligned with community needs, however, is still up for argument. Determining whether a business can be a B Corp or an L3C is largely determined by corporate governance and structure or designated goals. These considerations may ensure that a business has good intentions of incorporating social factors into their business planning, but these systems often leads us back to the point made above by the Carbon Institute.
Many CSR reports include goals of reducing energy usage or considerations of their social impact. This in itself is a virtuous act and will only help our greater cause. The problem is that the systems in place only require these businesses to make goals and be transparent. Whether or not these goals connect with reality is not a problem for a B Corporation, L3C or social enterprise.