How CSR is seen in Chile

Posted: Monday 1 February 10, 9.30am GMT

CSR is no longer a new and unknown concept in Chile. When a decade ago ten companies founded Acción RSE, a business organization aimed to promote corporate social responsibility in the country, almost nobody was acquainted with this emerging concept, including top management and employees of founding members. Most of the founding companies became involved mainly following the mandate and policies of their corporate headquarters abroad.

At present corporate responsibility is a well-known trend in the Chilean corporate world. Every company seeking to maintain its reputation must be able to show at least a couple initiatives in this field and the concept is widespread in the business sector, academia and media.

Efforts made by various organizations have to be acknowledged – namely the above mentioned Acción RSE, Prohumana, Vincular, SustentaRSE, among others – to promote a new culture of doing business, disseminating knowledge, tools and best practices with the support of international organizations such as the IADB, OAS, United Nations et al.

What has changed over the years is the focus, shifting from a more peripheral view into a more strategic approach. In the first years, CSR was more linked to support social organizations and community initiatives, close to philanthropy and not connected to business. Today we can witness a broader connection to address societies concerns with regard to sustainability of companies operations, and its impact on the environment and communities’ wellbeing. The whole value chain of companies is under public scrutiny by several groups of different stakeholders. Transparency and accountability are increasingly important, and every leading company has to publish a sustainability report – hopefully following GRI G3 guidelines – to disclose its performance on the triple bottom line.

Environmental issues have become more and more fundamental to management. They quickly realised that Chile’s economy, based on the export of commodities – mainly copper, pulp and fruits – won’t stay competitive if they don’t take measures in order to reduce the huge carbon footprint derived from the long distances they have to gap to reach main distribution centers and markets in Europe, USA and Asia.

Compensation is also becoming an emerging issue. Leaders are beginning to think about public policies and market instruments to protect Chile’s biodiversity, including its rainforests in Patagonia, its rivers and glaciers, not only to leave their beauty untouched for future generations, but also to as a means to preserve its environmental services and to be able to demonstrate how the country is acting to tackle its significant and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Symptomatic of this is the creation in 2009 of two important business initiatives related to fighting climate change: the Climate Leaders Group (CLG) and the local chapter of The Prince’s May Day Network, the UK’s largest movement of businesses committed to take action on climate change.

Another initiative that evidences the increasing attention to sustainability issues by specific industry sectors is the launching of the Chile Green Building Council, a member of the World GBC whose mission is to promote sustainable construction and operation of buildings, including the overall value chain; addressing all building types and emphasizing state-of-the-art strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality.

These new trends are indicating the increasing and stronger commitment of the Chilean business sector towards sustainability.