To mark Human Rights day 2014, Carnstone provided input to the International Tourism Partnership’s ‘Know How Guide’ on Human Rights for the Hotel Industry. The document provides an introduction to human rights – what human rights are, the context of the hotel industry, steps to implement the UN Guiding Principles and resources for further reading.

The United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Initiative is an international network of investors working together to develop a more sustainable global financial system. It has grown exponentially since 2006, now comprising over 1,200 signatories, with a combined US$45 trillion in assets under management.

Due to the rapid growth and changing nature of the PRI, Carnstone was appointed to carry out a formal review of the PRI’s governance structure and processes. The aim of this review is to assess what governance structure the PRI should adopt to fulfil its mission.

After an extensive fact-finding mission, comprising interviews, desk research, legal reviews and peer benchmarking, we produced a set of 10 practical recommendations to support the future growth and aims of the organisation. We presented these to the PRI Advisory Council at the United Nations Headquarters in July 2014. The PRI is currently consulting with its signatories on the 10 recommendations for change, a process also facilitated by Carnstone.

Please click below to see the full report with our recommendations. The ‘article’ link provides more information about the next steps of the governance review.

On 9th July, Carnstone helped launch the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) in the historic setting of the Guildhall. The packed event brought together over 200 people from business, academia, government and the third sector, to celebrate this landmark day in the history of our profession. Images from the event and more details about the ICRS can be found by visiting the article below.

This report summarises the second Mirrors or Movers? conference, hosted by the BBC in June and organised by the Media CSR Forum, a Carnstone multi-client project. The event brought together more than 100 people from 34 major media companies to discuss the role of media in society. Specifically, we looked at the impacts of media content in the areas of women, the environment and privacy. Video summaries of individual sessions are also available - follow the article link below.

As a relatively new industry, the corporate responsibility and sustainability (CRS) sector is still finding its feet, but this year, we are witnessing the emergence of a recognised profession. CRS is becoming a mainstream business activity in many parts of the world. Our fifth CRS Salary Survey helps shed light on the sector, the roles within it, organisational structures, gender split, responsibilities, education and qualifications, satisfaction, and – of course – pay. Undertaken in collaboration with Acre and Flag, this year we achieved a record 1,200 responses, a 42% increase on 2012. The results show a sector enjoying continued growth, maturity, and exceptionally high levels of satisfaction.

The past year has witnessed continued controversies surrounding the supply chains of big retailers. From the traceability of meat to collapsing factories in Bangladesh, the risks associated with product sourcing and labour standards in a globalised world are firmly on the radar of companies, consumers and investors. Conversely, the issue of how retailers manage their direct employees appears to have been relegated to almost secondary importance. We recently completed a research project for the UNPRI (Principles for Responsible Investment) to identify what investors should look for when assessing the human capital management (HCM) practices of large retailers. The report is available to download below. We also summarised the findings in an article for Guardian Sustainable Business.

Since March 2013 businesses across Europe have been responding to the EU Timber Regulation; a law prohibiting illegal timber from appearing on the European market. We wanted to gauge the feeling across the retail and manufacturing sectors so, eight months on from the law’s introduction, we conducted a short survey to understand how companies were facing the new requirements. We presented the findings to the Chatham House Illegal Logging Update in February 2014. The results are summarised in our report Still Feeling Stumped?