Irish firms make their 'Mark' on responsible business practices

Over 200 business leaders attended the annual Business in the Community CEO Breakfast Forum at Dublin Castle last week, where the companies certified to the Business Working Responsibly Mark so far in 2016 were announced. 

The Mark, which is run by Business in the Community Ireland, is independently audited by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).

Seven companies were accredited to the Mark for the first time this year:

• A&L Goodbody
• Arup
• Bank of Ireland Group Ireland
• Eir
• Janssen Supply Chain Ireland
• Veolia Ireland
• Vodafone Ireland

This year’s BITC forum was addressed by economist Professor Jeffrey D Sachs, who would be renowned for his writings on poverty and sustainability.

Prof Sachs spoke about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and how business leaders in Ireland must take action to help implement the goals.

He was a key architect of the goals that were agreed by 193 countries over a year ago.

The goals themselves are a complex matrix of 17 goals and 169 indicators, and they represent the new KPIs for the planet.

Business in the Community Ireland CEO Tina Roche said in a growing economy “businesses in Ireland need to look at the essential components for responsible and sustainable growth”.

She highlighted the work life balance, as well as ethical consumerism and supply chain risks as being key areas that companies need to focus on.

A total of 23 companies have now achieved the Mark.

This includes a host of household names such as Boots, CRH, ESB, and Fujitsu Ireland.

From rte.ie  (2/11/2016)