Bodies corporate do put aside some
monies for the eventual development of society.
The contributions of bodies corporate to the development of society come
in the form of school buildings, boreholes, hospitals, repair and maintenance
of institutions etc. This is what is termed corporate social responsibility
(CSR). The idea is that the society has helped a body corporate to grow through
the patronage of its services, and therefore it behooves the body corporate to
show appreciation, which then results in an obligation termed “corporate social
responsibility”. In Ghana, MTN (Mobile Telephone Network), a South African
telecommunication body corporate is a typical example of a body corporate
living up to its corporate social responsibility. MTN was named the overall best
CSR Company for 2015 at the Ghana Excellence Award.
Yes, corporate social responsibility.
The term and its implication is relatively well known; more so if you are a
shareholder in a company. As a shareholder, when you attend an annual general
meeting and dividend is not declared for some reason, but money was spent on
corporate social responsibility, you itch to question the logic in that idea
when you are not getting dividend.
By the way, what is Corporate Social Responsibility’s
equivalent for environmental issues? Corporate Environmental Responsibility
(CER)? The term occurred to me without knowing there is a term like that. I
therefore probed to find out more about it. This is what I got. Wikipedia says
it is a “relatively new term”. The ideation is that it should be an expansion
of corporate social responsibility to cover environmental issues created by
bodies corporate in conduct of business. When the term occurred to me and I was
reflecting on it, I thought it could be an endeavor to stand on its own, not to
be subordinated to corporate social responsibility, given the urgency of
environmental issues.
What specifically and really prompted the term in my thought is
a link I read showing how Google is remarkably reducing its carbon footprint. I
am using this post as a pointer to what Google is doing as such, so as to bring
hope and encouragement to all of us in the steady quest for a clean and
balanced natural environment in a sustainable way.
Now, let us then get a rundown of Google’s efforts in the
reduction of its carbon footprint, and in my estimation making her a role model:
- Usage of 100% renewable energy at data centers and offices by 2017
- Usage of more than 2.6 billion watts of wind and solar energy (December, 2016)
- Ultimate goal: “…to create a world where everyone….not just Google….has access to clean energy”.
- Core value: “operating our business in an environmentally sustainable way….and we are always working on new ideas to make sustainability a reality”
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