Stakeholders promise to focus on follow-up action to improve CSR knowledge 

The meeting was opened with the presentation of the results of a recent research into how CSR could be fed into companies' strategies, management and systems. Following-on from the structure of the first wave of Round Tables, two companies then presented their cooperations with NGOs. Firstly, the representative of paper company UPM Kymmene explained its work with WWF Finland to fight illegal logging and improve their environmental management systems. Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica explained its system of integrating CSR into their practices, which builds on mapping their stakeholders' interests and setting priorities on their basis.

The second block of discussions centered on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The OECD Guidelines is a voluntary set of principles and standards, adhered to by 37 countries, which focuses on human rights, the disclosure of information, anti-corruption, taxation, labour relations, the environment and consumer protection. The implementation of this corporate responsibility instrument is ensured via so-called National Contact Points, often government officials, which respond to enquiries, assist in solving problems that may arise and gather information on national experiences with the Guidelines. CSR Forum participants felt the Guidelines' effective implementation mechanism could be linked to other instruments, such as the UN's Global Compact.

The last section of the discussion dealt firstly with an inititative within the chemicals industry: the Responsible Care programme. Established in 1985, "Responsible Care" is a global initiative launched to prevent accidents, injuries or harm to the environment. It also has both internal and external communication elements, as it encourages public reporting on global health, safety and environmental performance. Companies from 47 countries have so far taken this voluntary commitment. The Ethical Trading Initiative is a UK-based horizontal programme, which focuses on the supply chain based on ILO labour standards. The Initiative identifies and supports good practices, building on peer pressure. The last discussion in this Round Table focussed on the consumer dimension of CSR knowledge. Consumers organisations, the Dutch Consumentbond and European Ethical Consumers, complained that consumers were still lacking information and emphasised the consumers' right to information concerning the environmental aspects, production methods, labour standards and human rights.