CSR at full power

According to Novo Nordisk's former CEO, Mads Øvlisen, the problems currently faced by the international community can only be solved if the business sector takes an active role. As opening speaker at Kromann Reumert's recent CSR conference, Mads was just one of the many speakers to recognise that CSR is a beneficial way of doing business.

Almost 130 guests attended the conference, entitled "CSR - Legal and Business Skills Side by Side", which was held at Kromann Reumert's offices on 16 April 2009.

Drawing on his many years of experience in CSR at Novo Nordisk, Mads Øvlisen spoke about the highlights such as when he received a letter from the former UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, asking him to join the governing body of the UN initiative Global Compact in 2006. Global Compact is intended to promote the relationship between the business sector and the community in general. At the conference, Mads read out an extract of the letter from Kofi Annan.

He pointed out that - among many other things - CSR is not that simple. It requires long-term initiatives that must be rooted in the entire business; from the board room to the employees.

Mads' introduction set the scene for a focused and inspiring conference that both addressed the question of how the business community can best accept social responsibility, and explored the advantages and disadvantages of such responsibility.

Law gives full power to CSR

But how can legal aspects be relevant in a CSR context?
"It is spot on when law is regarded from a CSR perspective", said Jette Hessellund Lauridsen, an Associate Partner with Kromann Reumert. "All businesses should consider CSR in a legal context - in short, law gives full power to CSR", she continued.

Pernille Haaning, a lawyer at Kromann Reumert, referred to CO2 quotas and credits as an example of the links that exist between the law and CSR.
"CO2 credits may, for example, be used to invest in green projects that limit CO2 emissions in the third world", Pernille explained and continued:
"Generally, businesses must check their agreements with cooperative partners and suppliers and take cross-border parameters into account because the rules may differ from one country to another."

Law is also crucial in sponsorship agreements. As an example, Brøndby Football Club's main sponsor, KasiGroup, has sold the right to exposure on the players' shirts to Unicef Danmark. In this situation, it is important to allow for the tripartite arrangement in the contract and ensure that there are clear guidelines in case of any disagreement, for instance about the right to take photos of players wearing the logo shirts.

Anti-corruption

One focus area in UN's Global Compact is anti-corruption. Charlotte Hedegaard, a lawyer at Kromann Reumert, explained that anti-corruption is an important issue, particularly for businesses that are active in third world countries, but also for businesses located in countries closer to Denmark.

For businesses that have decided to work with anti-corruption and CSR in general, Charlotte recommended that they start by taking a look at their trading partners.

"We may comply with the law in Denmark, but are our foreign trading partners also in compliance", she asked rhetorically.

"Implementation of an anti-corruption programme requires clear management support for the initiative. The programme may imply the identification and removal of corrupt agents and cooperative partners, or the abandonment of a country which is corrupt", said Charlotte.

An anti-corruption programme should include:

• Codes of conduct
• Training (workshops and e-learning)
• Advice
• Internal audit and control procedures
• A whistleblower hotline
• External reporting