La responsabilité sociétale des entreprises

Commissariat général au développement durableJul 21, 2020

La Commission européenne a défini en 2011 la responsabilité sociétale des entreprises (RSE) comme « la responsabilité des entreprises vis-à-vis des effets qu’elles exercent sur la société ». En d’autres termes, il s’agit de la contribution des entreprises au développement durable. C’est aussi la reconnaissance que l’entreprise ne doit pas se limiter à une logique financière ou économique, mais qu’elle doit également rendre des comptes à l’ensemble de ses parties prenantes (actionnaires, mais aussi clients, salariés, fournisseurs, pouvoirs publics, associations, citoyens…) en prenant des engagements sociaux et environnementaux qui vont au-delà des exigences réglementaires.

In 2011, the European Commission defined corporate social responsibility (CSR) as "the responsibility of enterprises for the effects they cause on society." In other words, it is the contribution of companies to sustainable development. It is also the recognition that the company should not limit itself to financial or economic logic, but must also be accountable to all its stakeholders (shareholders, but also customers, employees, suppliers, public authorities, associations, citizens, etc.) by making social and environmental commitments that go beyond regulatory requirements.

3 chapters

What are the objectives of corporate social responsibility?
CSR Objectives
• Corporate social responsibility challenges the classic business model of the company, its governance and human resource management, and is a way to affirm its role as a citizen. • Experience shows that a CSR approach can in particular enable a company to: • Increase its economic performance by taking into account all factors that contribute to its long-term prosperity, starting with its intangible capital (human, organizational, etc.) • Prevent and manage environmental, social and governance risks • Guarantee social acceptance of its activities • Facilitate access to financing and new markets • Educational sheet "Corporate Social Responsibility" produced by the Banque de France and the Ministry of Ecological Transition (https://abc-economie.banque-france.fr)
How to build a corporate social responsibility approach within companies?
Building CSR Strategy
• First, the company must identify, ideally with its internal stakeholders (employees, directors) and external stakeholders (customers, suppliers, contractors, financial partners, etc.), the main risks related to its activities, including, where relevant and proportionate, risks created by its business relationships, products or services. • Next, it must define its objectives and the measures to be implemented to prevent, identify and mitigate these risks and to maximize its contribution to environmental preservation. • Finally, monitoring and evaluation of these measures must be carried out. • To support them in their approach, guides and benchmarks for best practices, and more formally, standards are available to companies. • Labeling and certification procedures can also be undertaken by companies to help structure their CSR approach. Once obtained, these labels or certifications allow the company to publicly demonstrate its CSR commitment, and thus attract new clients and partners sensitive to this approach.
How to make business management more transparent?
Transparency & Reporting
• Although corporate social responsibility is a voluntary approach, France has established a regulatory framework to require companies to report on the CSR measures they implement: this is non-financial reporting. • Beyond reporting, it is necessary to reexamine, including through corporate accounting, the concepts of performance, wealth and value creation by moving beyond the strictly economic and financial perspective that currently prevails. Thus, for over a decade, work has been underway to establish non-financial accounting aimed at promoting more systematic consideration of social and environmental issues related to corporate activities.

Further reading

Related articles