A New Methodology Approach for Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility Performance

The exact contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to a company as well as to its stakeholders should be measurable in order to be evaluated correctly. The difficult task of measuring the results of CSR has been a matter of significant research both by academics and by practitioners. Some of the literature on corporate social responsibility combines CSR with stakeholder theory introducing corporate social performance. The literature has attempted to describe emerging models of the issues that lead to a coherent model of what would represent corporate social performance. However, it is the case that social aspects are “soft” in nature, therefore being difficult to quantify. Innovated methods of performance measurement such as that of Balanced Scorecard has lately been introduced in some companies in their attempt to include non-financial indicators to give a more balanced and forecasting power to the traditional financial performance assessment system, but the view of corporate social responsibility is rarely taken into account. Furthermore, management frameworks that try to cover social and environmental aspects, such as Global Reporting Initiative, by providing a number of related performance measures, are not able to connect them with corporate strategy and are poor evaluators of cause–effect relationships. In the present paper, a CSR performance measurement framework based on the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard approach is presented. For the development of the proposed framework, the existing assessment of CSR and Corporate Sustainability actions of the Greek companies of different sectors was analysed in order to identify common practices in CSR performance evaluation as well as existing limitations. Taking into account the social indicators suggested by the traditional balanced scorecard views, an extension of its structure is proposed in order to better embody the environmental and social aspects of company performance.     

Mercury in bottom sediments of the Amur River, its flood-plain lakes and estuary, Eastern Siberia

Mercury (Hg) is an element of a special concern in the Amur River basin, where numerous cinnabar deposits and manifestations have been prospected. Moreover, the territory is under heavy anthropogenic pressure due to intensive economic development that includes activities accompanied by noticeable emissions of Hg to the environment through poor waste management practices and accidental emergency discharges. Yet, information on Hg distribution and behavior in this region is scarce and inadequate. In order to evaluate Hg levels and fate in this vast territory, surveys of river, lake, and estuarine bottom sediments, as integral indicators of environmental status, were carried out in 1990, 1991, 1997, and 2004. The results showed the following: (1) stagnation of the Russian economy in the 1990s has resulted in a noticeable decrease of the Hg content in the Amur River sediments to the basin pristine level of about 0.05 mg kg^???1; (2) Hg distribution in the sediment depth proves the element redox-dependent behavior; (3) in some cases, Hg enrichment may be related to the long-term anthropogenic emission; (4) Hg concentration in bottom sediments was found to increase in the following order—the Amur River mouth, the estuary, and the Sea of Okhotsk, showing the weakly non-conservative Hg behavior during estuarine water mixing.     

Derivation of soil values for the path ‘Soil-Soil Organisms’ for metals and selected organic compounds using species sensitivity distributions

BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE: According to the German Federal Soil Protection Act, the natural function of soil as a habitat for human beings, animals, plants and soil organisms is, among other things, to be protected by deriving soil values for important chemicals regarding their amounts in the environment, their persistence and/or their toxicity. This contribution presents the results of the mathematical derivation of such values for nine metals and ten organic substances from soil ecotoxicological effect values available in the literature for microbial processes, plants and soil invertebrates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ecotoxicological data were mostly extracted from published papers and reports and had to originate from valid studies that were performed according to internationally standardised guidelines (e.g. ISO) or were otherwise well documented, plausible and performed according to accepted laboratory practice. As test results, both structural (i.e., effects on mortality, growth or reproduction) and functional (i.e., effects on microbial activity or organic matter breakdown) parameters were included. The derivation of soil values was performed using the distribution based extrapolation model (DIBAEX) and EC(50)s (Effective Concentration) as input data. RESULTS: For 19 compounds, soil values could be calculated. In 18 of these 19 cases clear laboratory ecotoxicological effects (i.e., EC50 values) below the calculated soil value have been found in the literature. DISCUSSION: In those few cases where a comparison with field studies is possible, effects have been observed in the same order of magnitude as the calculated soil values. A comparison with other similar approaches confirmed the plausibility of the calculated values. CONCLUSIONS: The DIBAEX-method is a feasible and widely accepted method for deriving soil values from ecotoxicological input data. Data availability was already satisfactory for some substances, but other substances, especially organics, were only poorly covered. The soil values presented here were based on EC50 input data. However, depending on the protection level aimed at by using soil values in legislation, it might be appropriate to use other input data such as NOECs in the derivation process. RECOMMENDATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES: It is recommended to generate an appropriate number of data for further relevant substances by means of a test battery or multi-species approaches such as terrestrial model ecosystems. These tests should also consider the influence of the bioavailability of substances. A final recommendation for legally binding soil values demands a plausibility check of the mathematically derived values. This should include a comparison with natural background concentrations, soil values for other pathways and soil values used in legislation of other countries. Finally, expert judgement always has to be considered.     

Effect of biochar addition on the improvement of the quality parameters of compost used for land reclamation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The 5% addition of biochar in composting in rows contributes significantly to reducing volatile organic compound(VOC) emissions. When composting with...     

An Evaluation Approach to Environmental Program and Project Planning

This paper presents the incorporation of realistic practice into the formulation of evaluation methodology in environmental planning. The approach is based on the principles of realistic evaluation. The latter, founded on scientific realist philosophy, offers a complete blueprint for evaluation activities and proposes realistic development in policy making. Combining theory and method, as well as qualitative and quantitative procedures, realistic evaluation focuses on testing theories of how outcomes are generated by specific mechanisms, fired and activated in particular contexts. Its commitment to the belief that evaluation research depends on the investigation of causal explanation underlines the fact that environmental interventions are closely connected with and affect social world. In this way the social dimension in environmental interventions is enhanced and a more sophisticated perspective is introduced in the evaluation process. Realistic evaluation offers to environmental planning and development an actual practice into the conduct of evaluation.     

Verteilungskoeffizienten chlorierter Kohlenwasserstoffe zwischen Muskulatur und Leber bei Fischen

Measured partition coefficients (KL_M/L) related to lipid-concentrations between the muscle (C_ML) and liver (C_LL) tissue of two fish species (Abramis brama, Zoarces viviparus) exhibit nominal values of unity according the relationship KL_M/L=C_ML/C_LL=1 for persistent compounds such as highly chlorinated PCB and values above one for degradable compounds for example chlorinated cyclohexanes or DDT. The corresponding theory is presented. The relationship holds for samples for single fish as well as for pooled samples.