An interview about social value and the dangers of greenwashing with the CEO of CSR Accreditation, Richard Collins
whatimpact is proud to be in collaboration with CSR Accreditation, the only organisation in the UK delivering a globally valid CSR Accreditation scheme and a leader for promoting a global standard for social value.
We had a conversation with the CEO and co-founder of CSR-A, Richard Collins, about his views of the current and future state of social value delivery and the dangers of greenwashing.
1) What do you see as the biggest challenge to be solved in companies and corporations in terms of CSR strategy and social value delivery in general?
Often when we talk to organisations about their commitment to CSR there are concerns about capacity to deliver, cost and who is responsible. Through our social responsibility framework which provides the four CSR pillars of Environment, Workplace, Community and Philanthropy, we can show that they are already delivering CSR at some level. It is often by looking over the fence that we can see what an organisation struggles to see. It’s amazing what they are already doing that they don’t talk about. CSR-A provides the perfect opportunity to tell that positive story. This then starts a journey that can address the capacity to deliver and identifies the CSR enablers in the organisation who can ensure their CSR commitments are met.
2) How is validated social value delivery linked to economic success of companies?
I think that it is fair to say that the future shape of business will be measured in both financial and social value. We can show that CSR is in fact an essential profit centre. It will deliver a return on social investment through staff engagement, better mental health and wellbeing, improved productivity, retention, becoming an employer of choice, winning tenders, attracting investment, supply chain security and enhanced brand and business reputation. It will also provide a social return on investment by delivering social impact.
3) ‘Greenwashing’ has been a big topic in recent years. What is the situation now? Are the times for ticking boxes and false-claiming over?
We are seeing a real shift towards greater scrutiny over claims of environmental and social actions by all stakeholders. In the UK the UK CMA (Competitions & Markets Authority) launched the Green Claims Code to help you ensure your green claims are genuine and not misleading or greenwashing. They will help you protect your business’ reputation with your customers and stay on the right side of the law. The CSR Accreditation is designed to provide independent recognition and validation through an evidence based application process. Ticking boxes is no longer good enough.
4) We at whatimpact see intentions and activities of ‘social washing’, meaning companies running activities with very little or negative social value. What are your views and experience of this phenomena and how to tackle it?
Many businesses are already doing the right thing by being honest about sustainability and socially responsible activities. But this is not always the case. A recent international analysis of websites found that 40% of green claims made online could be misleading. Organisations have got away with this in the past but with the rise of areas such as ESG reporting there is far less opportunity for organisations to mislead their various audiences. With regard to social value The charities / social enterprises have a role to play in impact reporting the benefits of the support they receive. The platform that What Impact provides is a perfect way for donations and volunteering to be evidenced with a globally valid social impact reporting tool aligned with the Social Value Act UK. This is exactly the supporting evidence that our CSR Accreditation Assessment panel looks for when assessing an organisation’s application.
whatimpact is a matchmaking platform for companies to match with social value organisations (charities and social enterprises) and our system provides comprehensive social impact reporting. CSR Accreditation accredits organisations on their social and environmental impact in general and provides annual impact reviews, where reports from whatimpact.com are used for specific qualitative and quantitative data – and for evidence.
CSR-A provides the tools and a roadmap to help your organisation show what validated and accredited social value looks like. To find out more visit: https://csr-accreditation.co.uk/
