A socially responsible market: the challenge of the next ten years

With the eyes on the future and aware of the huge challenge to face ahead, the Ethos Institute celebrated in the evening of May 27 the opening ceremony of the 2008 International Conference recalling its ten years of existence. An attentive audience came to the Anhembi Convention Center, in São Paulo, willing to contribute to building a socially responsible market, the conference theme pervading all workshops, panels and debates. The event gathers representatives of various sectors of the economy and civil society committed to discussing, sharing experiences and suggesting shortcuts for the implementation of socially responsible management in companies.

 The evening reached its climax with the performance of actor Paulo Goulart acting out a text based on the Earth Charter (click here to read Paulo Goulart’s text and here to see the full text of the Earth Charter). His speech was illustrated by a video with scenes of life on the planet and remarkable human rights-related moments of history. Goulart’s performance touched the audience, especially when he recited the poem Mundo Grande (Vast World) by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. A string quartet, playing by his side on the stage, contributed to the emotional atmosphere that distinguished the 2008 International Conference opening ceremony from previous editions.

When making a quick evaluation of the 10 years of the Ethos Institute, its president, Ricardo Young, said “the movement is on the move”, reinforcing the organization’s effort to look ahead, to the next 10 years. He acknowledges that companies “have gone a long way,” but there is still a lot to do to achieve “systemic changes, with collaboration among sectors and understanding of the responsibilities each one has.”

According to Young, the objective of this sustainable market-oriented conference is to find out how to develop a culture in which market mechanisms will favor sustainable development, diversity, social inclusion, and fair economy. Young said the ability to advance in these themes will “frame the challenge for the next 10 years”, which, without a doubt, requires entrepreneurship and technology innovation.

He recalled that 10 years ago there was almost no CSR management tool and, as of 2000 companies started to incorporate, although modestly, some indicators into their strategies. “We’ve done a lot. A combination of factors has helped Ethos clear the way, but there is still a lot to be done,” he stressed. Young remarked that companies are groups of people interacting with sets of values, and exhorts the society to set goals and decide on “what we should do and what can’t wait any longer to be done”.

Ethics guardians

The history of the Ethos Institute cannot be told without referring to Oded Grajew, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Ethos Institute. He was the one who mobilized a group of business people to found Ethos. “Ten years ago, a group of friends decided to take a step ahead in the fight for a better Brazil. Not even the term ‘social responsibility’ existed,” recalls Grajew, now engaged in the strengthening of the Our São Paulo Movement.

Grajew evaluated the magnitude of the “leap” taken since 1998. He commented that, in companies that were leaders in social actions, even among the foreign ones, investment was rarely higher than 1% of their revenues. “Nowadays, we want 100% of what the company does to be measured according to the impact on its stakeholders,” he compared.

Businessman Helio Mattar, one of those invited by Grajew ten years ago, remembers what he said to his friend after listening to his ideas at the dinner table. “I didn’t catch a word of what you said, but let’s move on,” admitted Mattar, who eventually founded and now is the president of the Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption. Mattar believes there is no healthy company in a sick society, as well as there is no sustainable company without an equally responsible market. “Companies are what the market makes of them,” he stressed, proposing a “pact for an ethical economy in order to change the face of the world”.

Paulo Itacarambi, Executive vice-president of the Ethos Institute, informed that the ideas discussed in the meeting will be further discussed with the institute’s associates in the states. If the proposals move forward, in ten years’ time Oded Grajew’s dream may come true: “We’ll be able to get to the Anhembi Convention Center by boat, down Tietê River, which will come alive again, recovered by the efforts of all of us.”

> Click here to see the full text of the Earth Charter
> and click here to read Paulo Goulart’s text
> Galeria de fotos
> Home