German Ranking of Sustainability Reports

The German Ranking of Sustainability Reports considers the reports of the 150 biggest german companies. The selection was based upon the list of the Top 500 companies of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung. Taken into evaluation are the Eco-, Sustainability- and CSR-Reports or comparable company reports. In the current turn the SD reports of small and medium sized enterprises are evaluated for the second time.

The German Ranking of Sustainability Reports is carried out every two years by future e.V. and the Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung gGmbh (Institute for Ecological Economy Research, IOeW). The German Council for Sustainble Development supports the Ranking of Sustainability Reports in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs.

The Ranking´s criteria and former results can be found in the English version of the website www.ranking-nachhaltigkeitsberichte.de.

A framework for Sustainable Economy

Wether Corporate Social Responsibility are profitable, depends on the existence of an appropriate framework. One factor for success is for example the response of citizens with their consumption patterns. Therefore the Sustainable Shopping Basket is reviewed annually and in October 2009 a recommendation on "Consumtion and Sustainability" passed as resolution. Public authorities were addressed for sustainable procurement in 2008.

Another important player with potential leverage effect is the capital market. To foster the orientation towards sustainability there, the German Council for Sustainable Development has adopted a German Sustainability Code, which standardises sustainability information and makes them transparent and comparable.

Brochures:

Recommendations to public procurement: In 2008 the Council released recommendations concerning public procurement policies which are available as a brochure and online.

Credible - cost-effective - viable for the future: modern procurement policies must be sustainable (PDF, 437 KB) 11.08.2008

Recommendations of the German Council for Sustainable Development to the German Government, text No. 23, August 2008 [German/English] (out of print)

Further information:
Topic "public procurement policies" on the Council´s website

Recommendations of the Council and reactions:

"Corporate Responsibility in a Globalised World -
A German Profile of Corporate Social Responsibility" [PDF, 617KB]
Recommendations of the German Council for
Sustainable Development
text No. 17, September 2006
[German/English]
Brochures of the Council can also be obtained
free of charge by using our online form.

Position des Hauptverbandes des Deutschen Einzelhandels (HDE) zum Thema Unternehmensverantwortung (Corporate Social Responsibility - CSR) [PDF, 119KB, in German]
(Berlin/Brüssel, 6. Februar 2008)

Schreiben des Staatssekretärs im Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS), Kajo Wasserhövel, an den Vorsitzenden des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung, Dr. Volker Hauff [PDF, 20KB, in German]
(September 2007)

Antwort der Bundesregierung auf die Große Anfrage der Abgeordneten Ulla Lötzer, Dr. Barbara Höll, Sabine Zimmermann, weiterer Abgeordneter und der Fraktion DIE LINKE [PDF, 192KB, in German]
Deutscher Bundestag
(27.06.2007)

Stellungnahme der Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände (BDA) und des Bundesverbandes der Deutschen Industrie (BDI) zu den Empfehlungen des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung [PDF, 187KB, in German]
(Januar 2007)

Draft Dialogue:

Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Further Development - Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalized World [PDF, 112KB]
Draft Dialogue for a Recommendation put forward by the German Council for Sustainable Development to the German government and to trade and industry
(6 February 2006)

Leadership CSR forum on 17 May 2006:

Kurz-Dokumentation Leadershipforum CSR [PDF, 534KB, in German]
(Berlin, 17.05.2006)

Multi-stakeholder CSR forum on 18 May 2006:

Kurz-Dokumentation Multistakeholderforum CSR [PDF, 766KB, in German]
(Berlin, 18.05.2006)

The recommendations on CSR have been presented to the public in September 2006 on the the Council´s annual conference. The draft put forward by the German Council for Sustainable Development, which contains the recommendations for Corporate Social Responsibility, seeked to stimulate the discussion and called for standpoints to be made known. The German Federal Government responded in September 2007 with a letter of State Secretary Kajo Wasserhövel [PDF, 20KB, in German].

In 2007 the Council continued its activities on the issue of Corporate Social Responsibility and invited the German public to participate.

Download:
Ergebnisbericht „Dialog 2007 zu Nachhaltigkeit und CSR des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung“ [PDF, 140KB, in German]
Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) gGmbH
(Berlin, 14.01.2008)

Multistakeholderforum on CSR

The German SD Council has realized a multistakeholderforum on Corporate Social Responsibility on Sept 27/28 2007 at the German Museum of Technology Berlin. In this event different stakeholders have taken into critical reflection the actual discussions in the field of CSR and identified common activity fields. The event invited representatives from the business sector, society and politics and was facilitated with highly interactive methods like world café.

Further information and fotos of the dialogue and the Metaplan boards are available on the Council events site on theMultistakeholderforum.

Download:
Dokumentation: "Multistakeholderforum Verantwortliche Unternehmen - verantwortliche Gesellschaft? Neue Perspektiven der Kooperation für CSR" [PDF, 1.152KB, in German]

Workshop "Sustainability Management Schemes in SMEs - how to realize?"

On the annual conference of the German Council for Sustainable Development a workshop for small and medium sized enterprises "Sustainability Management  Schemes in SMEs - how to realize?" was offered.

The workshop addressed entrepreneurs of SMEs which gained already experiences with eco-management schemes and environmental statements and wanted to continue to a sustainability management.

The two-hour-workshop was part of the annual conference of the German Council for Sustainable Development, which took place on Nov 27, 2007 in Berlin.

Download:
Protokoll des Lernworkshops „Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement in KMU – Wie umsetzen?“ [PDF, 43KB, in German]

KMU-Lernworkshop: Einladung und Programm [PDF, 62KB, in German]

Online evaluation

In an online evaluation until 24 August 2007 entrepreneurs and civil society were invited to comment the current state of discussion on CSR in Germany and to assess the activities of the German Council for Sustainable Development. The results will be presented in a short English summary on this website in winter 2007/2008.

Download:
"Stand und Perspektiven unternehmerischer Verantwortung in Deutschland" [PDF, 338KB, in German] (Langfassung)
Auswertung einer Online-Umfrage des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) gGmbH
(Berlin, 14.01.2008)

"Stand und Perspektiven unternehmerischer Verantwortung in Deutschland" [PDF, 84KB, in German] (Kurzfassung)
Kurzauswertung einer Online-Umfrage des Rates für Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Institut für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (IÖW) gGmbH
(Berlin, 24.09.2007)