In many ways the principles of CSR reflect the principles of being a CPA having strong ethics, and being accountable and transparent about the way you conduct business.
CPA Australia's culture reflects these principles and today's organisation continues to bring these principles to life.
Below are some examples of initiatives we have implemented.
Sustainability reporting
Sustainability reporting using the Global Reporting Index (GRI) will commence for CPA Australia in 2008. The reporting will be staged over three years to incorporate full measurement, benchmarking and assurance criteria.
In addition to descriptive reporting on management strategies, 20 GRI indicators have been selected. These indicators best represent CPA Australia's business objectives and will provide the basis for meaningful management decisions on social and environmental business activities.
Carbon footprint
An audit conducted by the Carbon Reduction Institute into CPA Australia's global greenhouse gas emissions for 2006 found:
our footprint is low (just over 18,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions stage 3) and not a major contributor in global terms by comparison, the average household in Australia produces 14 tonnes CO2 each year
the largest source of emissions was office expenses (61 per cent), followed by air travel (14 per cent), electricity (11per cent) and assets (10 per cent)
catering (26 per cent) was the biggest source of greenhouse emissions in the expense category, followed by printing (22 per cent) and office supplies (15 per cent)
We are considering the Carbon Reduction Institute's recommendations to improve our greenhouse gas performance through reducing consumption, increasing efficiencies, and improving staff engagement and education policies.
Ongoing assessment of our annual carbon footprint will identify major areas of carbon use, provide a catalyst for strategies to reduce our footprint, and provide an annual figure against which to measure our environmental policy objectives.
Staff volunteering
In partnership with Volunteering Australia CPA Australia offers every employee two volunteering days per year, in addition to normal leave entitlements. The volunteering days can be taken to participate in an approved activity.
Charities involved in the Victorian pilot program in 2007 included:
Blind Sports
The Salvation Army
RSPCA
Environmental policy
Our approach to management and use of environmental resources will be documented in an environmental policy to be developed by June 2008.
The policy will provide direction for negotiating, purchasing and choosing suppliers. It will also cover behavioural changes essential for managing our environmental impact and ensuring a better use of resources.
Supplier relations policy
Our environmental policy will be considered for all procurement activities. We are also aware of ethical procurement standards with regards to upholding human rights.
The principle of assessing whole-of-life value to procurement will be extended to products and services that we directly purchase. This may also apply in cases where we have considerable influence for an indirect purchase.
This page is available online at:
http://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/cpa/hs.xsl/27949_28255_ENA_HTML.htm
