Sharing for better implementing

The Instituto Ethos announced it is going to launch in the second half of this year the Grupo de Referência Empresarial em Sustentabilidade – GRES (Business Sustainability Benchmark Group). The new proposal was put forward during the plenary session "Business initiatives for the construction of a sustainable and just society," during the 2007 International Conference. The main objective is to develop, implement and disseminate sustainable business management processes aimed at managing economic, social and environmental impacts of the business activities.

The GRES plans to gather a group of 12 companies that will make a strong commitment to implementing corporate social responsibility. These companies will act in cooperation by sharing experiences in order to implement CSR plans. Natura, Itaú, Whirlpool and ABN Amro have already confirmed their presence in the group. The methodology to be used was developed by Natura and will be shared with the other GRES members.

"These companies are going to form a workgroup to assess their production processes, check what needs to be adjusted according to a number of variables – such as water and energy consumption, emission levels, and social equality in the market place –, and are also going to define investment plans to put CSR into action," said Paulo Itacarambi, executive director of Instituto Ethos. He said that the most interesting thing is that these companies will share responsibilities and costs involved in the solution of social and environmental problems. Each one of them will do their homework and, then, share with the others the technologies developed and solutions found in the cleanest and most responsible processes. This will mean rationalizing resources. "We at Ethos will provide all the necessary technical support for this initiative, which meets one of our main objectives – creating cooperation networks to foster transformation," asserted Itacarambi.