Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just about visible programmes of good citizenship. It is a reflection of values and philosophies that are embedded in an organisation and evidenced in day-to-day activities. In this context, ‘social’ encompasses the full range of stakeholders, local communities including indigenous peoples, the environment, and economic considerations beyond financial statements. CSR is responsibility to society for our actions and is fundamental to sustainable development.

The Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit (COMU); www.comu.govt.nz) expects New Zealand State Owned Enterprises and other Crown Entities to have a CSR framework in place and report on it annually. Landcare Research actually published its first CSR report (also called sustainability or triple bottom line reports) in 2000. Since 2001, we have published a fully integrated, printed annual report covering all dimensions of our performance. We assess, set targets for, and report on key aspects of our economic, social, and environmental performance, including the direct impacts of our business (e.g. resource use) and indirect impacts through the application of our science. Our approach and our reporting continue to evolve as we challenge ourselves and are challenged by others.

We have continued our efforts to drive sustainability reporting forward through an extensive sustainability section on our website. Through these pages, we report comprehensively on our economic, environmental, good employer, and community performances during the year. Web-based reporting gives us much greater scope to make strong links between our management strategies, stakeholder engagement and the impacts of our work. In addition, the section called ‘Voices for sustainability’ includes invited perspective pieces. This section also highlights the role Māori and other indigenous peoples have in sustainable resource management.

 


Principles

Ethics Guiding Philosophy Māori perspectives Our Vision & Values Sustainability Policy