TI/Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a non-governmental organisation that has been supporting worldwide efforts against corruption since 1993. TI is based in Berlin and has offices in more than 90 countries.
Transparency International supports greater transparency and independent controls as means to prevent corruption. It initiates and supports dialogue between relevant players such as the media, enterprises and governments. TI also helps other organisations with their investigations but does not conduct inquiries into individual cases of corruption itself. In addition to these activities, TI publishes the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) every year. The CPI is based on surveys and as a result reflects the level of perceived corruption in the political and administrative sectors in 180 countries.
See also: Transparency
www.transparency.org
Transparency
Transparency describes the degree to which information on relevant corporate decisions and decision-making processes, indicators and goals is published. A high degree of transparency means that stakeholders are provided information that is comprehensive and easy to understand, can be verified and exceeds legal requirements.
Management reports and sustainability reports are important instruments for disclosing information. Sustainability reports in particular put interested stakeholders in a position to assess a company's or organisation's performance in the economic, environmental and social fields.
See also: TI/Transparency International and CG/Corporate Governance
Triple Bottom Line
The triple bottom line concept foresees not only measuring corporate performance on the basis of economic and financial criteria, but also mapping environmental and social values and developments with the help of quantified indicators so as to enable a more profound analysis. At the same time, these figures serve both internal management and external communication. The evolution from the simple bottom line to the triple bottom line has gone hand-in-hand with the insight that enterprises are responsible not only to their shareholders but also to a broader stakeholder universe.
Triple P
Triple P stands for People, Planet, Profit and means the balance between social well-being, an intact environment and financial success, analogously to the three-pillar sustainability model. None of these three areas should have a negative impact on the others. Ideally, an organisation that is geared to the triple P concept seeks to ensure that social, environmental and economic developments positively influence one another. Transparent reporting on the basis of a triple bottom line shows whether a company is on the right path in this connection.
UN/United Nations
The United Nations (UN) was founded in San Francisco, USA, in 1945. With 192 member states, it unites nearly all nations of the world. The UN's most important tasks are to ensure global peace and compliance with international law, protect human rights and foster international co-operation. Five principal organs and numerous programmes and specialised agencies are responsible for these undertakings. Since 2000, the United Nations has, in connection with corporate responsibility, offered interested enterprises the possibility of joining the Global Compact, a worldwide pact for shaping globalisation to be more socially and environmentally responsible. The Global Compact is the world's largest initiative in the field of corporate responsibility. Its ten principles are based on UN declarations and conventions and seek to win enterprises' support for the achievement of UN objectives.
www.un.org
UPJ/Unternehmen: Partner der Jugend
The national Unternehmen: Partner der Jugend e.V. (UPJ) - Enterprises: Partners for Youth - campaign is a nationwide network of enterprises, non-profit placement organisations and public figures from trade, industry and the administrative sector. UPJ fosters long-term collaboration between trade, industry, non-profit organisations and the public administration to solve societal problems and ensure communities that are capable of meeting the challenges of the future. For this purpose, the UPJ provides information on successful examples from the area of corporate citizenship with a special focus on children and adolescents. The UPJ also helps find partners for such projects in 12 of Germany's states.
www.upj.de
VENRO/Verband Entwicklungspolitik deutscher Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen
The Verband Entwicklungspolitik deutscher Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen (VENRO) is the voluntary development policy association of some 100 German non-governmental organisations. Since 1995, VENRO has championed the development of a global structural policy to supplement projects and programmes in developing countries. For this purpose, it fosters dialogue and the exchange of experience, conducts public relations and lobby work and organises continuing training. VENRO members include private and church sponsors of development co-operation and emergency aid and of development-related education, PR and lobby work.
www.venro.org
Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband
The Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V. - Federation of German Consumer Organisations - is the umbrella organisation for 16 consumer protection centres and 25 other associations in the German consumer protection field. The Federation was established in the year 2000 and has its offices in Berlin. It co-ordinates and bundles the consumer-protection-policy work being done by its members with the aim of fostering product safety, information, freedom of choice for consumers and sustainable consumption in Germany. The Federation represents consumer interests and works at three levels for a fair and transparent market. The first level is lobby work and the provision of advisory services for politicians. The second level is enforcement and the third is fostering consumer advisory services. The Federation additionally works with other national associations at European and international level to achieve its goals.
www.vzbv.de
WBCSD/World Business Council for Sustainable Development
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is an alliance of some 200 enterprises to advance sustainable development. The World Business Council was established in 1995 and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The WBCSD considers itself a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the area of sustainable development. It sees itself as a mediator between enterprises and a representative of corporate interests vis-à-vis the political sector. The WBCSD also initiates projects in the climate protection, energy efficiency, ecosystems and development co-operation fields. For example, it developed the GHG Protocol together with the World Resources Institute (WRI) for quantifying the greenhouse gas emissions generated by enterprises. The WBCSD is also active in developing and newly industrialising countries through its regional network in some 60 countries around the world. Its efforts in these countries focus on boosting the subject of sustainable development.
www.wbcsd.org
WEF/World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a private foundation with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Its members include some 1,000 leading global corporations which finance the WEF's work through their membership fees. Following its motto "entrepreneurship in the global public interest", the WEF works for sustainable development in trade, industry and society through the various initiatives it conducts in the education, food, security and corporate governance fields. The World Economic Forum becomes the focus of public attention every year with its annual conference in Davos where board members, politicians, journalists and representatives of non-governmental organisations meet to discuss current global problems.
www.weforum.org
WHO/World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) which co-ordinates the international public health system. It was established in 1948 and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Organization's primary task is to research and monitor disease in general and pandemic contagious diseases such as SARS, HIV/AIDS and malaria in particular. For this purpose, WHO develops programmes to prevent, treat and heal various diseases. These efforts concentrate primarily on developing countries and are driven by the insight that while health is a fundamental prerequisite for eradicating poverty, poverty also significantly impacts health.
www.who.int
Work-life balance
Work-life balance means a well-balanced relationship between working life and leisure time. A work-life balance is said to exist when people are able to satisfy their individual needs in the workplace and, at the same time, lead a fulfilling private life. In companies that practise corporate responsibility, this concept is increasingly the focus of attention for personnel departments which offer employees, for example, flexible working models and time off, based on the individual's situation. Additional free time and training opportunities that are organised by the employer also play a major role in this connection. A good work-life balance has a positive impact on employee motivation, creativity and productivity - and consequently benefits the respective company as well.
WRI/World Resources Institute
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Washington, D.C., USA. The WRI views itself as a think tank for sustainable development. It seeks new ways to provide for the needs of current and future generations while at the same time reducing man's burden on the environment. With this aim in mind, a team of scientists, economists and policy experts works on numerous research projects and publications on current challenges. Its most important publication is the World Resources Report, a compilation and analysis of data on topical environmental issues which is published every two years. Together with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the WRI developed the GHG Protocol to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions generated by enterprises.
www.wri.org
WTO/World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations and has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It has the task of regulating and liberalising as far as possible the international trade between its 195 members which account for the bulk of global trade. For this purpose, numerous rounds of negotiations have been held which have led to a number of trade agreements that are binding for WTO member states and thus for the companies operating in them. In disputes, the WTO also functions as a mediator in connection with breaches of established commercial law. Through this work, it has been possible to dismantle many tariffs and subsidies and harmonise trade relations at international level under the aegis of the WTO over the years.
www.wto.org
