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Misterloxo
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by Misterloxo » 21/02/04, 11:17

I found this article interesting and "encouraging" on the web site and I share it with you:

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"The price of neglect is higher than the price of commitment"
Actors, costs, methodology, objectives ... In an interview with the Journal du Management, Nicole Notat discusses the major challenges of sustainable development. (February 2004)



From her window, Nicole Notat has an eye on Paris pollution. Located on the 28th floor of one of the Mercuriales towers in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis), its office puts the front row seats. The former Secretary General of the CFDT now heads Vigeo, the social and environmental rating agency she created in July 2002. Another privileged position, which allows him this time to keep an eye on the growth of sustainable development in France.</span>

What is your definition of "sustainable development"?
Nicole Notat. This is not my definition, but the official definition given in 1987 by the Brundtland report of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development. It is the ability of current generations to meet their needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This definition invites us to reconcile the short term and the long term. The satisfaction of needs affects both health, education, the economy, development ... We are at the heart of the social and societal benefits of the economy. What gives consistency to this concept are those acting on its behalf, for example public authorities or companies.


Where does France stand in terms of sustainable development compared to other countries?
The Nordic countries have been ahead of this concept, especially for the environmental aspects. But in France, awareness has increased sharply in the last two years, from the public authorities, but also from businesses and consumers.

Is this a fashion effect?
There is of course a fad, which implies risks of confusion on the concept and risks of illusion on what it can generate. For the company, sustainable development today has a relationship with its reputation. His first instinct is therefore to be responsible and civic, to start by doing communication. But if this communication is not based on concrete and real action, it can quickly turn against the company itself. In my opinion, in the long run, a company can not do social responsibility through communication.


What are the forces driving businesses towards sustainable development?
Today, the company is eager to act in this direction by many actors. Public opinion is sensitive to major ecological causes, respect for human rights and the fight against corruption. It is capable of generating high-impact media campaigns. Public authorities are becoming more and more important among the pressure forces, notably through legislative and regulatory provisions. The law of the New Economic Regulations (NRE) which created the obligation to publish a report of sustainable development was an accelerator of the communication and, in the wake, of the action. Investors are also a source of pressure. Companies are concerned about accessing the responsible investment market. Finally, the company itself acts for sustainable development after assessing the risk that would be hers if it neglected its action in this or that area.

Can sustainable development be a source of greater profitability?
The first reflex of companies that address the issue is to highlight the cost of sustainable development. But does not negligence in this matter also have a cost? The price of negligence is probably higher than that of engagement. If the company is taken in default, it can be punished by a fine, a trial or a bad reputation that can influence the act of purchase of the consumer. In addition, a sustainable development policy generates savings, for example energy. Finally, it can provide an element of differentiation and therefore of competitiveness.

Do you observe a growing interest of leaders in sustainable development?
Last year, many leaders went to the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development, and about 230 companies joined the Global Compact. Leadership awareness has risen sharply since eighteen to twenty-four months. Some are skeptical, others convinced. But few escape the question.


Will sustainable development become an issue for business recruitment?
Companies that want to attract executives will need to be more sensitive to sustainable development. More and more young people leaving universities or colleges are interested in the practice of companies in this field, when they can choose their job.

This new generation will not go into the mold and lose its ideals?
No. The pressure for action comes more and more from the outside and I do not think it is cyclical.

Are SMEs also concerned by sustainable development?
It depends on the SMEs and the nature of their activity. But I observe that some people are also concerned about these issues. Large companies are more exposed because of globalization. They form a locomotive, but this concept is not reserved for them. Finally, small and large companies are in business relationship, which generates a ripple effect that can pull SMEs in the same direction.

Vigeo's shareholders include financiers like Eulia, unions like the CFDT, and companies like Accor, Carrefour and Total. How did you convince these shareholders?
Before creating Vigeo, I first tested my intuition. I felt that businesses would increasingly be held accountable, informed and accountable by ensuring their objectivity, which implies external evaluation. I talked to business leaders, financiers and institutions. They confirmed that this need was real and growing. Some have contributed capital to ensure the creation of the agency.

How do you guarantee your independence vis-à-vis your shareholders?
Our independence is guaranteed by the diversity of the sixty shareholders and their pluralism. Our shareholders include companies, unions and financiers. Each category has three members on the board of directors, regardless of its capital weight. We also benefit from the expertise of a scientific council composed of academics, which has no relationship with Vigeo or with its shareholders. This board closely studies our methodologies and looks at the independence of our ratings.



On which principles do you base these methodologies?

Our methods are based on opposable references, that is to say, legitimate and universal for all companies. Organizations such as the ILO (International Labor Organization), the OECD, the UN or the European Community provide us with the basics of this reference system. Then, robustness means that our method is strong enough that it leaves no room for any subjectivity, no bias. The last characteristic is transparency. We present our methodology to our clients and the general public.

What do companies think about these principles?

Businesses are reassured that our standards are legitimate and not arbitrary.

And how do you get reliable information to establish the rating?
The quality of our ratings depends of course on the quantity and quality of our information. We seek to collect a maximum of data coming from several sources: the company, the specialized press, the unions, the NGOs ... It is frequent that the information does not all converge in the same direction. Sometimes the analyst quickly identifies where the truth of the information is. When it does not succeed, it questions the company again and possibly a stakeholder to make an objective point of view.

Do companies cooperate easily in collecting information?
Some time ago it was difficult to get information. But this is changing due to the awareness of companies and their willingness to report their results in this area. Companies are now more attentive to social rating agencies.


Is Vigeo a socially responsible company?
We only have one year! It's a goal for Vigeo to behave as a responsible company, and we've already laid some groundwork. One day, why not, we will solicit a notation! I do not know from whom ... More seriously, we are moving towards an ISO 9000 certification, that is to say in quality.
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Anne
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by Anne » 28/02/04, 17:27

what Nicole Notat calls negligence is too often unconsciousness.
The "elite" firmly believe that they have "responsibilities". YES, but as they have appropriated orders instead of "serving" as any place of power must, they believe themselves entitled to say what must become tomorrow, a place of competition or consumption frantic and absurd. It may be necessary to define what is called "needs".

I heard today that France is under pressure from lobbies to no longer recognize its Kyoto signature. It is urgent to say that the future is not a function of the budget but belongs to the living; and that it is up to us to question our organization and our conceptions.

The price of unconsciousness or blindness is far superior to any commitment; and it is our grandchildren who will pay the price.
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by Christophe » 28/02/04, 21:07

I obviously agree with you Anne but know that rare are the times when the man is preventive, his field of action is much more often the curative (Western capitalistic medicine as an example excelence) ... in the case climate change unfortunately and given the inertia and magnitude of the deregulation initiated the "little" human can not do much ... "Ah if we had known ..." we say then.

The worst part is that we knew ....
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Anne
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by Anne » 29/02/04, 17:18

When I look at the earth from the moon, I admire this blue planet, when I get closer, I admire its colors, its diversity, its structure; by going ever closer, I am more and more admiring; then I come across an accident, the man who turns this balance into a desert.
Yes, I am amazed! This perfect balance is destroyed by a vermin eating away! So I'm wondering. Why was such a vermin, of which I am a part, created? And if all this beauty is the result of chance, why does this vermin think of destroying it, rather than embellishing it?

This morning I heard something that pleased me, it was like "to be ashamed of human justice" or "no longer talk about justice" or to act knowing that what vermin held for justice was not justice. I have known for a long time that what we call justice is only legal. That according to the countries, the peoples, the habits and customs, which serves of justice, is only function of our interests.

Since we can, at any moment, get out of our lives, why are we unable to put our talents to the service of life?
Living is difficult, violent and painful, we know it; but we have the freedom to choose to live or die. So why are we destroying? To avenge us? of what? to know that life is a privilege and that dying is a choice? No, I do not understand the attitude of my contemporaries.

To leave everything as Buddhism advocates does not suit me because I sense that we have to invent "LA JUSTICE" the one that will be
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Anne
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by Anne » 29/02/04, 17:36

Maybe the man was designed to disperse the U 238 the so-called "depleted uranium"? or to raise the temperature?

I learned of the existence of so many miracles by H. Reeves that I remain confident, I know that chronology and temperature, what makes up the environment and "the quantum leap" radically transforms the environment. So I am confident. But if it is to destroy life and its beauty that we act "opportunely" I find that it is of the unconsciousness, but I am wrong perhaps because I do not know the role of the man on Earth.
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