Corporate Social Responsibility in the Road Sector Dr Andy Southern -Atkins (UK) Alexander Walcher -Asfinag (Austria)

1 Presentation What is CSR? What role does it/can it play in the Roads sector? Results of the PIARC survey of road administrations and suppliers What is the future for CSR?

2 PIARC's Sustainable Development Committee and the CSR Project Aim: provide an overview and dialogue on sustainable infrastructure projects in member countries Including: Best practice examples Comparison of different management cultures Learning and knowledge exchange CSR was a central strand of research

3 What is CSR? A broadening of responsibilities Economic financial performance Philosophies and values underpinning an organisations behaviour Social staff diversity, welfare, community support Environmental Impacts on environment & energy use The “triple bottom line”

4 Evolution of CSR Pre 1970: narrow focus on financial performance 1970s: recognition of sustainable development principles 1990s: environmental reporting broadened to include social and economic reporting (balanced score-cards) Post 2000: majority of top 250 global companies producing CSR reports –CSR starting to become embedded in some organisations values and behaviours

5 The business rationale for roads administrations and their partners to adopt CSR CSR helps planning and stakeholder engagement CSR helps reduce planning costs CSR helps reduce conflict costs CSR helps create sustainable solutions CSR helps to create positive impact for future projects CSR creates a different corporate culture

6 To what extent has CSR been adopted in the road sector? PIARC Literature Review & Peer Group Exercise Private companies faster to adopt CSR than public sector administrations Public sector organisations remit embodied in government objectives and, hence, need for explicit CSR policies/reporting not given the same priority

7 To what extent has CSR been adopted in the road sector? PIARC Literature Review & Peer Group Exercise Good examples of CSR in the road sector across western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa Some road administrations adopting annual sustainability reports and actions plans But Emphasis on environmental aspects

8 CSR is of growing importance to how road administrations conduct their business Transport increasingly set within broader environmental, economic and social agendas Compulsory reporting A means of aligning objectives in public/private partnership agreements Sustainability moving from a 'fluffy' concept to a harder edge currency of 'economic productivity' and 'carbon'

9 Objectives of the PIARC CSR study Confirm the growing importance of CSR Evaluate what is already done in the road sector Identification of effective CSR strategies for PIARC- members

10 Content of Questionnaire Members were questioned on: 5 key areas: business ethics, employee relations, human rights, community investment, environmental sustainability existing procedures, e.g. policies, standards, management structures, reporting, implementation etc.

11 Initial Overall Results Generally high standards in place Top priorities: business ethics, environmental sustainability, employee relations (chart) Other areas show room for improvements

12 Priorities 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% top priority - very specificmeasures in place measures are exceeding the legal requirements compliance with nationalstandards compliance legal requirements Business ethics Employee relations 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% top priority - very specific measures in place measures are exceeding the legal requirements compliance with national standards compliance legal requirements

13 Community investment 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% top priority - very specific measures in place measures are exceeding the legal requirements compliance with national standards compliance legal requirements Environmental sustainability 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% top priority - very specific measures in place measures are exceeding the legal requirements compliance with national standards compliance legal requirements Priorities

14 Human rights 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% top priority - very specific measures in place measures are exceeding the legal requirements compliance with national standards compliance legal requirements Priorities

15 Current CSR measures Respondents have CSR related measures in place Some also publish "sustainability reports" However, there are no truly integrated CSR policies

16 CSR policies Such CSR policies could be easily formulated and formally adopted based on the generally high standards that currently exist 3 respondents were working (at the time of the survey) on the implementation of a CSR system and hence, take-up of formal CSR processes will already be more advanced

17 Existing Standards Internal CSR responsibilities are not always clear (improvements possible) High amount of stakeholder involvement –Especially concerning environmental issues Manuals and guidelines exist - but there are not consistent standards & approaches to implementation Controlling and auditing are taken seriously –However, there is no uniform system established –External auditing is rare

18 Motives/Results There are strong motives for implementing CSR For respondents, benefits of CSR programs are: –Corporate image is enhanced – vision is becoming clearer –Stakeholder expectations can be better managed –Cost efficiencies –Improves legal compliance

19 Published articles ROUTES / ROADS, Nr. 333, p ROUTES / ROADS, Nr. 335, p

20 CSR in the road sector Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Walcher ASFINAG Managing Director Dr. Andy Southern ATKINS Managing Director Transport Planning & Management