The term corporate social responsibility (CSR), also known as sustainable business practice, is used to describe the work companies do that has a positive impact on society, the environment or the eco-nomy. In 2011, the EU Commission defined CSR as the ‘responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society’. Efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, promotion of equal career opportunities, and involvement with local communities are examples of CSR initiatives.

Global sustainability leaders.
Swedish corporations are often praised for their far-reaching work with corporate responsibility. Several recent studies list Swedish companies in this perspective:

• Corporate Knights analyses companies’ environmental, social and governance performance. The 2012 Global 100 study included five Swedish companies: Atlas Copco (18), Scania (27), Ericsson (30), Electrolux (58) and H&M (73). Parameters in the study included carbon dioxide emissions, leadership diversity and
taxes paid.

• The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index ranks the world’s leading companies in terms of their efforts in sustainability. The annual survey is based on analysis of companies’ performance in business ethics, the environment and social issues. The analysis, compiled by SAM from Switzerland, has significant influence on funds and investors who base their investments on ethics and sustainability. The 2012-13 index includes six Swedish companies: SKF, SCA, Electrolux, H&M, MTG and Atlas Copco.

Promoting sustainable initiatives

By placing demands on its own enterprises and promoting sustainable initiatives in general, the Swedish Government aims to inspire all companies to increase their sustainability efforts.

The Swedish Government owns more than 50 companies of various sizes. In 2007, Sweden became the first country to demand sustainability reports from state-owned enterprises. The reports have to comply with guidelines from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

In 2012, Sweden took another important step by asking state-owned companies to set several sustainability goals, and to report on them in 2014. The targets are to be set by the company boards, with focus on diversity, environment issues, human rights, working conditions, anti-corruption measures, business ethics and gender equality. The targets must also be measurable, specific and relevant to the companies’ operations.

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