CSR: much more than charity

In its 2010 Annual Report, NWR pledged to implement comprehensive reporting of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. To achieve that goal, the company has undertaken numerous steps CSR Manager.

What are your immediate intentions?

My main task will be the compilation of the first ever Sustainability Report for NWR, drawn up in compliance with an internationally recognised methodology, GRI (Global Reporting Initiative).

NWR has already undertaken numerous CSR activities, such as the support provided by the OKD Foundation, looking after its employees, reclaiming landscape, sponsorships and other initiatives. What is the purpose of this report?

It is correct that NWR carries out plenty of CSR activities, mainly in the form of sponsoring and philanthropy. However, the practice usually employed by international listed companies is quite different. There, CSR is understood as an effort to implement a comprehensive approach of the business to ascertaining, monitoring and reporting the impacts of its activities on its environment, whether they be in the economic, environmental or social areas. The GRI methodology we have chosen includes 91 indicators, such as customer satisfaction, energy/water/materials consumption, occupational safety, breaches of fair economic competition, and the assessment of the impacts of mining on communities.

What will the report mean for NWR in practical terms?

I see the main benefit of the report in increasing the credibility of our company for investors, public administration, nonprofit organisations and other stakeholders affected by NWR activities. By publishing all non-financial data, the group becomes more transparent and positions itself in the Czech Republic as among the leaders in CSR. Last but not least, as the report will be compiled in line with a set of rules, it will enable the comparisons between NWR and other businesses that use the same methodology.