CSR and Climate Change

CSR and Climate Change

Climate change is one of the vital concerns that arise in the discussion on sustainability. Sustainable development can be promoted by Corporate Social Responsibility (SCR) practices. The effectiveness of CRS depends on important duties from different sectors, especially in the societal, political, social, and economic sphere. Financial organizations such as banks have an important role to play in issues concerning sustainable development. This is because; their roles may have significant impacts (direct or indirect) on society and the environment. Corporate leaders are involved in the issues of climate change, because it is always believed that developing countries are responsible for the climate changes and its adverse impacts, due to industrial development undertaking in these countries. This paper is aimed at discussing the CSR issues relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals around climate action (SDG 13), it is worth pointing out CRS is an effective tool that can be used to alleviate climate change. It is the role of different Corporate to counter environment change by the use of manufacturing techniques that are friendly to the environment, embracing a green, transparent, and disclosure of environmental policy.

CSR and Climate Change

Climate change is a worldwide issue that needs global attention and solution. Just as business activities are significant, it is vital to take into consideration the effects that climate change has on the operations of different businesses, and possible effects on sustainability. It can be said that climate change repercussions on different spheres such as environmental, economic, social, and political. Weather patterns, which are usually unpredictable, droughts, flooding, and rising sea levels, are some of the adverse effects of climate change. These challenges affect the operations of the business and have a direct impact on the global economy. Notably, industries in developing countries such as in Africa are most vulnerable.

Climate change is having a significant challenge in production in agricultural sectors. For instance, there has been a drop in the supply of the agricultural product. This has significantly affected the reduction of the food supply. Hence posing threats to food security and a fast rise in prices of the commodity globally this has resulted in political and social unrest. Additionally, climate change has caused inflation, which has caused the economy to slow down in different countries across the globe. Business corporations will encounter serious challenges if the impact of climate change is not taken into consideration and efforts taken to solve the problem. It is high time for corporate managers to reconsider their business strategies and priorities that associate with sustainability. Business corporations need to strategize their objective and integrate the issue of sustainability

In previous years, the corporate approach to the matters of environment regulation has been forced from above. This made several corporates to use a lot of efforts and finances to resist this. However, in the current era, many organizations have changed their perspective. They have started working under the conventions that there is the business circumstance for CSR, which means “going beyond compliance.” This idea has made the business corporations to be among those that come up with regulatory practices through private, public, and also voluntary practices. However, they are still not the only private regulator that has risen to prominence in recent times. They work together with other bodies such as NGOs, local communities, and social movements to implement the issues of environmental responsibility.

CSR Actions to Fight Climate Change

CSR struggles to cut down the impact it has on the environment through the reduction of carbon footprint. One of the ways in which the companies are doing to mitigate the issue of climate change is by measuring and analyzing the emissions of Green House Gas. Measuring GHG emissions enables companies to understand their amount of pollution; hence, the corporation can start considering ways of solving the issues of emission. Cutting down the amount of energy consumption is another way in which different corporations are using to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Some of the practices adopted by CSR include switching off the lights when they are not in use and reducing their heating.

Additionally, businesses are paying attention to many energy reduction routines, thus having a significant impact on climate change through the reduction of carbon print. It should be mentioned that CSR is also playing a significant role in sustainability by embracing the use of renewable energies. Companies such as Enercoop supply renewable energy to hence avoiding the use of fossil fuel, which are primary sources of GHG and a high carbon footprint. Moreover, companies and businesses across the globe are trying to reduce the climate footprint by reducing the number of wastes generated in their operations.

CSR on Sustainable Transportation

It is obvious that transportation is a major section that leads to the production of a huge amount of greenhouse gases. CSR plays an important role in encouraging employees from different companies to use public transportation, share or carpool with their colleagues or providing a discount on public transit. Through these activities, Corporations can cut down their greenhouse gas emissions and hence have a positive indirect impact on climate change. Many companies also are choosing the infrastructures, which are greener as a CRS strategy for sustainable development goals on climate change. Several companies are encouraging the use of electric or hybrid cars in order to cope with their company’s codes of conducting of reducing their effects on climate change. Organizations are shifting to energy server equipment. In the same line, corporations also play a significant role in reducing the effects of climate change by choosing sustainable business partners. Since the issue of sustainability and climate change has become a concern in many organizations, choosing suppliers or business partners who have the best environmental practices is important. In fact, for any company to receive CSR or sustainability certificates, their activities have to be studied. Therefore, the companies which aspire to get these certificates to ask their partners to adopt environmentally sustainable practices.

Raising Awareness among Workers

Another issue of CSR related to sustainable development goals on climate change is passing awareness to workers and other investors. They carry out campaigns to raise awareness on the matters of environmental sustainability. Currently, several organizations are mobilizing the world to consider the challenges of climate change. They do so by asking public and political actors to take part in the issues of global warming. Due to the CSR initiative, companies have become active in matters of climate change and hence influencing other sectors to have environmentally friendly practices.

Sustainable Packaging

The packaging is a CSR issue that is related to sustainable development goals on climate change. Packaging plays a significant role in environmental sustainability and climate change. It does so by safeguarding products, avoiding wastes, and embracing effective business conduct. Cutting down the amount of packaging and employing the application of eco-friendly wrapping bags provides a good opportunity to enhance environmental sustainability. Sustainable packaging is a new issue for consideration of climate change for CSR companies. The use of environmentally friendly bags to package goods has significantly reduced their carbon footprint. A corporation that shows its environmental initiatives such as reduction of wastes generation and using recyclable packaging materials will increase the Seles of a given product and enhancement of the image of the product. A good example of CSR Company, which has embraced sustainable packaging, is the Cisco Company, which in 2012 abolished a huge amount of plastics bags and papers for a single product alone.

Clean Energy

Using renewable energy drives can lead to a great impact on CSR operations of organizations as renewable energy is one of the significant ways of alleviating the effects of climate change. There has been an increase in the use of renewable energy sources, such as decentralized power generation. Mega companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple are shifting to renewable energy as it impacts a good sense of business to lower emission of harmful gases, expand the supply of energy, alleviate the cost of fuel and display a sustainable image.

Environmental Reporting

Mandatory and voluntary environmental reporting is of attaining importance in the context of corporate social responsibility. Information concerning the environment such as emission of greenhouse gases, generation of waste, use of transit can enhance the transparency of industrial operations, thus, providing a significant tool to fight against the degradation of the environment. Businesses can play a role in this role by using raw materials, reduction in generation of wastes, water, use of energy, transit, and packaging. Several private corporations in different countries have the obligations of emissions of greenhouse gases and the consumption of energy to the government. For instance, in the United Kingdom, all the organizations are required to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the officer of data energy and greenhouse. It should be noted that reporting would only be done after the industry, or the company has undertaken environmental auditing. Environmental auditing helps the corporation to establish the effects of its activities on the environment.

Corporate environment responsibility

Environmental responsibility is receiving great attention. As a part of Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Responsibility has drawn huge attention from several fields such as academicians, professionals, researchers, and activists. The concerns on environmental protection and ecological balance have become a vital mission today. Many government policymakers and environmental activists are working hand in hand to reduce the issue of climate change globally. Preventing water, air, and land pollution and other causes of global warming have been the most concerned issues currently. Previously, companies and large businesses were blamed for causing climate change due to their practices, which were not in line with environmental conservation. As a result, CSR has raised the demand for environmental protection through several practices such as environmental audit, reporting, and management accounting.

Acting responsibly

In addition to the above issues, responsible acting is another CSR issues that many companies are adopting. It should be noted that businesses are becoming environmentally aware. Among these issues, global warming, which has led to climate change, is getting great attention from CSR companies. Due to previous blame on business, they were given new roles that are aligned with sustainable development goals on climate change. Businesses have focused on cleaner production to reduce their effect on global warming. These have been ensured through the reduction of pollution throughout the whole process of production, such as the effective use of raw materials according to the SDG goals on climate change. Additionally, companies have come up with ways of reducing the risks at their place of work and also enhancing human capital through safety programs and employee’s hygiene.

Carbon credit

The carbon market is a significant issue that connects CSR to sustainable development goals on climate change. It is important tools that assist in minimizing the emission of greenhouse gases through the provision of monetary value to the price of causing air pollution. As we all know, the major greenhouse gas which causes global warming is carbon IV oxide. Therefore, many companies usually use carbon credit as one of the CSR strategies to mitigate the effect of climate change on the environment. This is because, despite trying to reduce the emission, it has been difficult for many companies to cut down their carbon emission. These companies, which pollute a lot, pay the developing countries and organizations which carry out sustainable environmental practices as compensation for their pollution. The finances obtained from carbon trade play a significant role in improving sustainable development goals, especially in developing countries. The finances also can be used to improve forest cover, protection of wetlands, and enhanced waste management. All this is aimed at alleviating the protection of the environment and reduce the impact of climate change. It is important to point out; all these efforts have been brought to action by integrating CSR strategies to sustainable development goals on climate change.

Corporate Social Responsibility through a partnership

CSR issue that has enhanced the fight for sustainable development goals on climate change is a partnership. Different companies have created cooperation with other institutions such as universities, government agencies, and other bodies to work together and try to achieve sustainable development goals. For instance, the corporate organization is partnering with social media in order to spread their opinion about climate change. Additionally, many corporations are looking for environmental experts to assist them in filling the gap about the issues they are unaware of climate change. Companies always fund their partners to assist them in alleviating the process of climate change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that a business corporation cannot do well with environmental degradation and continuous climate change. Therefore, for the corporation, both the issue of gaining profit and doing well is very important. Many companies use CSR issues that align with sustainable development goals to address the issues of climate change. Some CSR issues which companies are using to protect the world from the impact of global warming include passing awareness to their employees on matters concerning sustainable development goals, addressing the issues of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases and promoting partnership with other stakeholders such as university and government agencies. Basing on the above discussion, it is evident that. The issues of CSR are well aligned with sustainable development goals, and this has improved the way in which businesses and other organizations fight the issue of Climate change.