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Ong, David M. --- "Locating the ‘Environment’ Within Corporate Social Responsibility: Continuing Problems of Legal Definition and Representation" [2008] ELECD 294; in Boeger, Nina; Murray, Rachel; Villiers, Charlotte (eds), "Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility

Editor(s): Boeger, Nina; Murray, Rachel; Villiers, Charlotte

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847205612

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Locating the ‘Environment’ Within Corporate Social Responsibility: Continuing Problems of Legal Definition and Representation

Author(s): Ong, David M.

Number of pages: 38

Extract:

9. Locating the `environment' within
corporate social responsibility:
continuing problems of legal definition
and representation
David M. Ong

INTRODUCTION: DOES CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY INCLUDE CORPORATE
`ENVIRONMENTAL' RESPONSIBILITY?
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now a well-known term of art in the
public policy, business, and civil society/activist (NGO) worlds.1 However,
like the even more well-known concept of `sustainable development' (Lowe,
2005; Victor, 2006), it is now in danger of becoming `all things to all people'.
In this chapter, I would like to lay bare a specific but arguably very significant
problem within the CSR concept. Simply put: Are the twin attributes of CSR,
namely, its popularity and all­encompassing nature in fact detrimental from an
overtly environmental perspective?2 Specifically, by in effect subsuming
`environmental protection' as simply another, or further, aspect of `social'
responsibility, encompassed by the term: `Corporate Social Responsibility', I
would suggest that the current emphasis on CSR tends to assume the inclusion
of corporate `environmental' responsibility and thereby disregard the compar-
ative lack of legal accountability for the continuing degradation of the
`natural' environment by corporate activities.3
These notions of corporate environmental and social responsibility are
increasingly linked and even overlap in their development within the wider
debate on corporate accountability to stakeholders. Indeed, in their recent
contribution to this debate, Elkington et al. describe the corporate embrace of
transparency, ethical behaviour, respect for diverse stakeholders, and a
commitment to add economic, social and environmental value simply as
`corporate responsibility', rather than ...