During the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Novo Nordisk, Deloitte, and the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry hosted a one-day workshop entitled When Trust is Challenged: Dilemmas and Opportunities in Corporate Transparency.

 

The topic attracted a wide range of high-profile representatives of the international business community and NGO environment as well as government and academia.

 

The day began with panel presentations followed by plenary discussion. On the panel were seven specially invited representatives of business, government and the NGO community. See their live presentations by clicking on their names below:

 

Moderator, Tim O’Riordan, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia and UK Commissioner for Sustainable Development, opened the workshop with a presentation on the importance of trust and integrity in society. He predicted a fundamental change to the role of business over the next ten years and emphasised the need for personal commitment to the corporate responsibility agenda at an individual level.

 

Carsten Staur, State Secretary, Denmark, delivered the first panel presentation addressing the challenge and role of governments in relation to sustainable development. In particular, he emphasised the importance of partnerships between governments and businesses, describing as an example the Danish government’s participation in the World Diabetes Foundation recently set up by Novo Nordisk.

 

Novo Nordisk’s Executive Vice President, Lise Kingo, pointed to the necessity for new business models to replace existing models. Sustainable development, she argued, could not be tagged onto the present way of operating but must be integrated into all business processes. Partnerships were one way of bridging the gap until new models had been found.

 

Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth, called for regulation as the only viable means of making companies conduct their business in a sustainable and responsible manner. In particular, he called for a new framework entailing rights (for citizens), duties (for companies), and strict rules to ensure high standards of corporate behaviour.

 

Executive Vice President of Anglo American plc, Michael Spicer, gave examples of successful business investments and initiatives to further the sustainable development agenda. Pointing out that many current initiatives are led by business, he emphasised the merits of voluntarism, such as dynamism, innovation, and entrepreneurship, but also mentioned the risks involved for business and the challenge of meeting NGO demands.

 

Michael Brinch-Pedersen, Managing Partner, Nordic Partnership, WWF, discussed different aspects of trust, emphasising that trust cannot be bought but must be earned. Can citizens trust business with building the framework - or at least part of it - upon which they base their lives? Brinch-Pedersen’s answer was “yes”, but there is a need to look for leadership in business.

 

The global leader of Deloitte Environment & Sustainability, Preben J. Soerensen, talked about the relation between trust and corporate behaviour, stressing that transparency and communication are key vehicles to gaining public trust. Sustainability reporting is one means to communicate and be transparent but there are challenges in relation to future reporting frameworks and guidelines, stressed Mr. Soerensen. To be effective, sustainable development must be integrated into main business processes.

 

Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan, AM, First Minister, Welsh Assembly Government spoke about the difficulty in regaining trust that has been lost, pointing to the general decline in public trust in authorities, scientists etc. The new UK research centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) based at the University of Cardiff is one forum which, he hoped, may contribute to the rebuilding of trust between stakeholders in society.

 

The panel discussions were followed by a Questions & Answers session.

 

The concluding plenary discussion touched upon issues such as the role of the media and marketing departments; the perceived mismatch between companies’ branding and marketing and their actual sustainable development activities; green washing; and voluntary versus regulatory approaches to Triple Bottom Line Reporting.

 

In the afternoon, delegates gathered in groups to discuss the issues of trust and transparency.