News Archives » corporate social responsibility
Vatican Hosts Mining CEO’s in a “Day of Reflection” September 11th, 2013
Participants of the “Vatican Day of Reflection on Mining” in front of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Rome
The CEOs of some of the world’s top mining companies went to the Vatican for a day-long meeting last Saturday to discuss better ways to operate in communities that are increasingly protesting the destructive impacts of mining. Communities are fearful – with good reason – of the impacts of mining on their water, land and air.
Saturday’s “day of reflection with the mining industry,” was organized, at the request of leaders in the mining sector, by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It included the CEOs of Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Newmont Mining, who alone represented companies with well more than $100-billion (U.S.) in market value. The chairmen, presidents or senior executives of dozens of other companies, ranging from AngloGold Ashanti to African Rainbow Minerals, were also present. Fr. Seamus Finn OMI, from the USP JPIC team in Washington DC, was invited to be a part of the team that prepared the day of reflection and offered input during the day. Pope Francis offered a message of greeting and challenge to the group and offered his prayers and blessings on the event.
The companies were interested “to open a dialogue where mining interfaces with the community … to hear other views with the promise of all of us making a difference.”
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Holy See Speaks out on the Need for Greater Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility June 17th, 2013
23rd HRC Session Report of the General Debate on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights, 31 May 2013
A recent Statement on Business and Human Rights at the UNHRC in Geneva by the Holy See Ambassadorial highlighted the importance of increased corporate social and environmental responsibility, particularly in light of the tragic factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people. The Holy See emphasized the need for “a more complete and deliberate consensus about the role and responsibility of corporations in society.” Continuing, the Ambassador suggested that “While a great number of people and corporate leaders have successfully moved beyond the view that the maximization of profit is the sole reason and purpose for corporations, the support and adoption of the legal framework that can serve as a foundation for this new vision is still in its infancy. The search for a consensus that will provide the desirable balance between the role and responsibility of governments and the public sector, and at the same time the space for private corporations to make their valuable contributions to the common good, continues.”
New Year’s Resolutions and Corporate Social Responsibility January 10th, 2013
The year-end transition is again replete with the consideration of resolutions concerning possible changes in behavior, activities or other patterns of action. Little seems to be known or reported about how many of these benchmarks or objectives are fulfilled or about how contented those who made resolutions are as the New Year unfolds.
Read Fr. Seamus’ latest blog on Huffington Post…
Shopping After a Factory Fire December 13th, 2012
Squeezed between the news reports of Black Friday weekend, when U.S. consumers spent more than $59 billion dollars, and a Cyber Monday that was the busiest online shopping day ever, came the tragic news of yet another horrible fire in a garment factory…
Read Fr. Seamus Finn’s latest blog on Huffington Post.
Show Us the Money September 12th, 2012
The conventions of the two dominant political parties at the end of the summer have unleashed a torrent of mass media, social media and traditional coverage of the major personalities and agendas…
In his latest blog on Huffington Post, Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI discusses the influence of the vast amounts of corporate money unleashed by the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, and the efforts by faith-based and socially responsible shareholders to press for greater transparency of corporate political contributions.
