LibGuides: Business Ethics: CSR &amp; Sustainability

Key Databases/Online Guides

Sustainalytics
ESG Risk Ratings - This universe has the most wide-reaching coverage of analyst based ESG Risk Ratings in the industry/market and covers an additional 3,700+ companies, bringing the total to over 16,000 issuers.

Controversies - For Controversies research, we monitor 700,000 news items from more than 60,000 media and NGO sources on a daily basis, in order to identify potential incidents for a universe of over 17,000 issuers.

Product Involvement - Product Involvement research provides coverage of more than 17,000 issuers of equity and fixed-income securities in emerging and developed markets.

Historical data for 2009-present are available as well upon request.
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ESG Risk Ratings: ESG Risk Ratings are designed to help identify and understand financially material ESG risks at the security and portfolio level. To this end, the ESG Risk Rating captures an issuer’s exposure to material, industry-specific ESG risks and an issuer’s management of those risks. The ESG Risk Rating provides an overall company score based on an assessment of how much of a company’s exposure to ESG risk is unmanaged. The more of this risk that is unmanaged, then the higher the ESG Risk Rating score.
Controversies Research: Controversies Research identifies companies involved in incidents and events that may pose a business or reputation risk due to the potential impact on stakeholders, the environment or the company’s operations. Our controversy assessments can be used alone for screening or engagement, or they can be used in conjunction with ESG Ratings & Research to better understand a company’s overall ESG performance and risk exposure.
Product Involvement: Product Involvement enables to identify companies involved in a range of product areas. This research includes details on how a company is involved in one or more areas as well as the degree of involvement, generally using revenue as a proxy.
Sustainalytics Academy
An online portal includes product methodology documentation, FAQs, video tutorials, and more for first-time users and for deepening users' knowledge and enhanced use of Sustainalytics' research.
Industry Canada: Corporate Social Responsibility
Includes initiatives by industry, standards, a CSR toolkit and information and links. Check out the Individual Company Activities under Initiatives by Industry to learn what the top 50 Canadian companies are doing in the field of CSR.
Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN) E-Library
An index of publications on Canadian research and activities in the area of business ethics including CSR, governance, sustainability, SRI, etc. Some articles and reports relate to specific company practice. Provides access to full text documents and links to websites where documents can be accessed. CBERN members, partners, and CBERN student research assistants all contribute to CBERN’s e-Library

Sustainability - web resources

Analyzing A Company's Accountability Record
Part III of Dirt Diggers Digest Guide to Strategic Corporate Research (for U.S. based corporations)
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Dirt Diggers Digest Guide to Strategic Corporate Research can be located at https://www.corp-research.org/dddresearchguide
How to Read a Corporate Social Responsibility Report: A user’s guide
From the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. It is a free publication, but the user must sign up to view it.
CorporateRegister.com
A free online directory of corporate responsibility reports, past and present, making it the primary reference point for CR reports and resources worldwide. Registration is required to access the free reports.
Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
"The Center monitors the environmental, social, and governance dimensions of business. We conduct primary research related to your practice and also scan the broader literature to evaluate, select, and deliver the knowledge assets that will be most valuable to you on a regular basis."
Network for Business Sustainability (NBS, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario)
Browse various topics under the Resource Library.
Guide to Industry-Level Sustainability Programs
"NBS identified 13 sustainability programs, across four sectors, led by Canadian industry associations in June 2012. These programs are profiled in this guide."
Sustainability: Business success beyond the short term - 17th Annual Global CEO Survey
"Sustainability and climate change - the 'next big thing'."
Forum for the Future
An independent non-profit working globally with business, government and other organisations to solve complex sustainability challenges.
Canadian Business Ethics Research Network e-Library (CBERN)
An index of publications on Canadian research and activities in the area of business ethics, broadly construed (CSR, governance, sustainability, SRI, etc.).
CSR Toolkit - Government of Canada
The integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and principles into business operations can help companies realize innovation and competitiveness benefits. This CSR Tool Kit for business provides practical guidance on why and how to integrate sustainability-oriented practices into business operations. Themes include: governance, decision-making, human resources, purchasing and marketing.
Center for Responsible Business
"An action-tank that brings together students, company leaders and faculty to redefine business and create a sustainable future."
The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)
Claims to serve as an unbiased source of information and resources on ecotourism and responsible travel, and seek to promote a well-researched message about what ecotourism stands for.
Sustainable Apparel Coalition
" The coalition’s main focus is on building the Higg Index, a standardized supply chain measurement tool for all industry participants to understand the environmental and social and labor impacts of making and selling their products and services. By measuring sustainability performance, the industry can address inefficiencies, resolve damaging practices, and achieve the environmental and social transparency that consumers are starting to demand."

BRYT (Business Research for York Toolkit)

Many large publicly-traded and privately-held companies produce corporate social responsibility reports.

Locate CSR Reports and Learn How to Read Them(PDF)

Find third party research reports on Canadian and American publicly-traded companies through Sustainalytics.

Company CSR Reports

Sustainability Disclosure Database (Global Reporting Initiative) The Search area provides users access to all types of sustainability reports.The Benchmark tool allows users to compare the levels of disclosure among reports that use GRI’s Framework, facilitated by filter options for Region and Sector.

Corporate Register.com is a useful web site for searching sustainability/CSR corporate reports and provides a searchable database of reports for over 10,000 companies globally. Sign up required.

Rewards & Trending

Growing Trends in Corporate Sustainability (Ernst & Young - 2017)
A summary of results based on a survey of
the GreenBiz Intelligence Panel, consisting of executives and
thought leaders in the area of risk identification and management.
Giving in Numbers - Trends in Corporate Giving
Each year through its Giving in Numbers Survey, CECP collects and reports data on numerous aspects of corporate giving programs around the world. Launched in 2001, the dataset now features more than $250 billion in corporate giving data.
CR Reporting Awards (CorporateRegister.com)
Annual awards for corporate responsibility (CR) reporting developed to identify and acknowledge excellence in reporting.

CSR Videos

Many of these videos feature CSR practices or business ethics issues documented in the context of specific companies.

Films on Demand Streaming videos on business topics, over 100 titles on business ethics,and some 40 titles on social, ethical and legal issues (marketing) and over 100 titles listed on social, ethical and legal issues (management).

Business Ethics: CSR & Sustainability