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CSR Makes Business Sense

Saturday, 17 October 2009

Experts say that more organisations are jumping on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) bandwagon because it makes business sense, according to Channel News Asia . In the short run, it might mean additional costs, but in the long run, observers find CSR can help to build branding and foster higher morale among employees as well as attract investors. Singapore developer City Developments invests 2 to 5 per cent of the construction cost of a development on green design and features. "At our new eco-friendly City Square mall, each year we estimate to save about S$2 million in terms of energy consumption and in fact, benefits do pass down to our buyers as well," said Esther An, head, CSR, City Developments Limited. "For example, at our Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove project, each household is estimated to save up to S$1,000 in energy bills, because of the energy saving features we put in their apartments," Ms An added. A South-African based consultant highlighted the benefits of CSR performance. "The key problem we face is not paying the right price for resources. In my country, electricity is far too cheap and fossil fuel is far too cheap as well. You start changing those price signals, innovation starts kicking in, and you have incentive to start doing things differently," said Jonathan Hanks, founding director, Incite Sustainability. Observers said that there are now more Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) funds worldwide, with growing interest in Asia. According to the Social Investment Forum, assets under management in the SRI industry stand at US$2.7 trillion, and over a tenth of total assets are held by US-based investor