Your daily companion for working in the field of corporate responsibility has been updated to reflect the latest trends and standards
The new CSR Handbook 2018 has been changed compared to the previous one, to feature the more recent standards. In 2017 DFGE has published its first CSR Handbook in order to gain a simple overview of the complex field of CSR for interested users. The Handbook indicates relevant topics within the ecological, social and economic sustainability area. Its structure is based on the ISO 26.000 Standard. For more information see our blog post from the 17th Nov. 2017.
Main changes within the CSR Handbook 2018
Structure and content are simply the same (see fig. 1 and 2). The first main difference is a short introduction into materiality and stakeholder engagement. Furthermore, there is additional information regarding the related international standards which are listed below:
- GRI references now point at the GRI Standards, not the G4 guidelines. Indeed, from the 1st July 2018 it is not recognized anymore to publish a GRI sustainability report created in alignment with G4. The Global Reporting Initiative has published the GRI Standards as its new GRI reporting framework in 2016. GRI has restructured the G4 guidelines into a modular system to make sustainability reporting more efficient. If you want to know more, go to our latest blog posts from 25th 2017 (GRI revision), from 6th April 2017 (GRI Standards introduction) or from 22th March 2017 (GRI Standards: streamline your internal reporting and strategy)
- ‘Nationaler Aktionsplan für Wirtschaft & Menschenrechte (NAP)‘ now is important for human rights topics. Many countries have issued laws or requirements on human rights matters: ‘Devoir de vigilance’ in France, Modern Slavery Act in the UK, … Probably, in future there will be more political pressure to solve human right problems. For companies with global business relationships, the NAP is a guide in order to know how to behave in a complex field like human rights. For more information, please go to our blog post from the 7th March 2018 (German language)
- Relevant DJSI contents for specific issues. DJSI rates the world’s biggest companies within their CSR performance based on ESG criteria. You will find more about DJSI on our website as well as in our blog posts
- ISO 45.001 reference for the occupational health and safety. This is the new ISO standard for managing health and safety issues within the business world. Please note that the OHSAS 18001 is valid until March 2021. Please find more about the ISO 45.001 in our blog post from 14th March 2018
- Reference to the German Law on CSR Reporting according to §289c HGB (be aware of implementing due diligence processes in order to fulfil the legal requirements). Since last year big capital market-oriented companies with a size of more than 500 employees are engaged to report about sustainability aspects and being transparent regarding due diligence processes regarding this topic. If you want to know more, go to our website (German language) or to the latest blog post about this topic.
The CSR Handbook 2018 was published in the end of April 2018 and can be downloaded HERE for free. If you need support in planning and implementing your company’s sustainability strategy, contact us via email at or telephone at +49 8192 99733 20.
