Corporate Social Responsibility : France’s commitment - 中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Corporate Social Responsibility : France’s commitment

Authors: Report written by Michel Doucin (French Ambassador for CSR and Bioethics) and his team

Date: 1 octobre 2010

French commitment to CSR is four-fold:

  • An active participation to international negotiations on CSR;

  • Legal provisions for CSR;

  • The state acting as a catalyst for multi-stakeholder action;

  • High number of initiatives by social and economic actors.

An active participation in international negotiations on CSR

France considers that the development of international public CSR standards with mandatory threshold requirements is a key objective for political negotiations at the international level. These standards must include mechanisms for access to justice and remediation in case of non-compliance.

France is actively participating in, and supports international instruments, international institutions, and processes, linked to CSR: UN Global Compact; UN Secretary General Special Representative John Ruggie and its framework “Protect, Respect, Remedy” for business and human rights; Principles for Responsible Investments; ILO and the ILO Tripartite Declaration for Multinational Enterprises and other initiatives; ISO and ISO 26000; OECD, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and other OECD initiatives on CSR; the G8, its commitment to the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) and its Declarations for a responsible economy; the Francophonie and its Declaration of Quebec; the European Institutions and the IFC (International Finance Corporation).

France has passed CSR-related laws with various impacts:

  • Mandatory CSR disclosure (Loi NRE, Grenelle de l’Environnement),

  • Promotion of socially responsible investment through more transparency and provisions for encouraging responsible investments;

  • Responsible public procurement.

The French state and public bodies also promote CSR through other means than law:

  • Dialogue, policy designing and follow-up of CSR policy (National Council and national strategy for Sustainable Development, Grenelle de l’Environnement dialogue process; Club of State-Owned Enterprises and public Bodies for Sustainable Development; Ambassador for CSR and Bioethics)…

  • Enforcement of CSR requirements (OECD National Contact Point, Anti- Discrimination Authority (HALDE))…

  • Active policy for encouraging labels allowing identification of SRI and CSR good practices.

Private initiatives contribute to CSR dynamics

We can mention the activities of ORSE (CSR Organisation, putting together companies, trade unions and the civil society); the Sustainable Development guide SD21000 of the French standardisation agency AFNOR; IMS (business organisation promoting CSR).

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