AccountAbility
AccountAbility is an independent, global, not-for-profit organisation promoting accountability, sustainable business practices and corporate responsibility. It is a self-managed partnership, governed by its multi-stakeholder network.[http://www.accountability21.net/governance]
Organisation and Role
AccountAbility was established in London, United Kingdom in 1995 with the stated aim to “develop new tools, thinking and connections that enable individuals, institutions and alliances to respond better to global challenges” . The organization now has bases in Beijing, Geneva, London, Sao Paulo and Washington D.C. and Country Representatives in Brazil, Canada, China, Jordan, Spain, Sweden and the US. [http://www.accountability21.net/default2.aspx?id=3802]
AccountAbility's work is closely related but not limited to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) field. The organisation is often labelled as a global think-tank, and has undertaken work in the areas of Responsible Competitiveness, Partnership Effectiveness, Collaborative Governance, Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Assurance and Reporting.
AccountAbility is a global network of leading business, public and civil institutions "working to build and demonstrate the possibilities for tomorrow’s global markets and governance through thought leadership and advisory services". They work to:
Enable open, fair and effective approaches to stakeholder engagement
Develop and reward strategies for responsible competitiveness in companies, sectors, regions and nations
Create and develop effective collaborative governance strategies for partnerships and multilateral organisations that are delivering innovation and value
Set and influencing sustainability standards
The AccountAbility Forum[http://www.accountability21.net/default2.aspx?id=3770] is an annual convening of partners, members, associates and the core team together with the organizations Governing Council to review and provide guidance on future plans and activities. They assess and provide feedback on AccountAbility’s activities and strategic planning.
The AccountAbility Accounts[http://www.accountability21.net/accountabilityaccounts] is an annual report to the organizations stakeholders drawn from the network of collaborators discussions at the AccountAbility Forum.
AccountAbility’s Managing Partner, [http://www.accountability21.net/default2.aspx?id=866]Simon Zadek is also a Senior Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and is a member of the Clinton-Dalberg Task Force programme effectiveness in leveraging private enterprise for development. In 2003, he was named the World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Leaders for Tomorrow.'
Collaborative Governance
AccountAbility works with partners ranging from government and intergovernment bodies to individual local initiatives to improve the governance and accountability of partnerships.
AccountAbility has endeavoured over the past 5 years to understand how multi-sector development partnerships work, how they perform and under what conditions they are able to function as viable alternatives to existing development systems.
Strategic Collaborative Governance
AccountAbility Work:[http://www.accountability21.net/default.aspx?id=2254] Researching what makes partnerships effective and publishing a series of reports on partnership best practise.
Promoting good practise through the Partnership Governance and Accountability Framework (PGA).
Supporting partnerships to enhance the quality of their own governance and accountability through peer-to-peer learning, testing the PGA Framework, and cross-cutting research.
Influencing debate by demonstrating the importance of effective governance of partnerships.
Catalysing the development of new ‘Accountability Compacts’– mutual agreements governing decision-making and performance in partnerships.
AA1000 Series of Standards
At the core of the organizations work is the AA1000 Series[http://www.accountability21.net/aa1000series]; recognised principle based standards for helping organisations become more accountable, responsible and sustainable. They are open source frameworks developed through a multi-stakeholder consultation and review process. The standards are designed to be compatible with other key standards in this area, including the GRI Guidelines, SIGMA Guidelines[http://www.proveandimprove.org/new/documents/SIGMASustainabilityScorecard.pdf], SA8000, the ISO Series and financial accounting standards.
The AA1000 Series consists of: the AA1000 AccountAbility Principles Standard (2008)(AA1000APS) , the AA1000 Assurance Standard (2008) (AA1000AS) and AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard (2005) (AA1000SES).
AA1000 AccountAbility Principles Standard
The revised AA1000 Accountability Principles Standard (2008) draws the principles from the original 2003 edition of the AA1000AS and clarifies the roles of the assurance provider and organisation. Organisations use the AccountAbility Principles to develop a strategic response to sustainability. They are also central to the other standards in the AA1000 Series; the AA1000AS and the AA1000SES. The Standard focuses on the principles of Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness.
AA1000 Assurance Standard
The AA1000 Assurance Standard (2008), was developed following a comprehensive multi-stakeholder revision of the 2003 standard. It provides a comprehensive method of holding an organisation to account for its management performance and reporting on sustainability issues by evaluating the adherence of an organisation to the AccountAbility Principles and the reliability of associated performance information.
AA1000AS (2008) requires the assurance provider to look at underlying management approaches, systems and processes and how stakeholders have participated. This enables the assurance provider to evaluate the nature and extent to which an organisation adheres to the AccountAbility Principles. The assurance providers use the Principles as criteria when evaluating an organisation. It provides findings and conclusions on the current status of an organisation's sustainability performance and provides recommendations to encourage continuous improvement.
AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard
The AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard, launched in 2005, aims to secure the quality of organisations' engagement with their stakeholders in the context of learning, governance and accountability. The AA1000SES can be used as a stand-alone standard or in collaboration with other standards (e.g. AA1000 Assurance Standard, Global Reporting Initiative, ISO).
The AA1000SES was published in draft form in 2005 and a substantial revision process began in early 2009. The AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard Draft provides a basis for designing, implementing, evaluating and assuring the quality of stakeholder engagement.
The standard provides guidance for continuous improvement, recognizing different levels of practice and can be used as a stand-alone standard or as an integral element of other standards (e.g. AA1000AS, GRI, ISO). The AA1000SES is relevant to micro-level engagements and macro-level engagements on major societal concerns and applies to businesses, civil society, public bodies and multi-stakeholder networks and partnerships.
Responsible Competitiveness
The term responsible competitiveness stands for markets that reward business practices that deliver improved social, environmental and economic outcomes. Responsible competitiveness also means economic success for nations that encourage such business practices through public policies, societal norms and citizen actions.
AccountAbility works with regional and national governments, and with multi-sector alliances to help reshape markets. Some of the partners of the Responsible Competitiveness work are Fundação Dom Cabral, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, London Development Agency, Authentix, BT, FUNDEMAS, Yorkshire Forward and SAGIA. The goal of this work is to build social and environmental innovation into the core of competitiveness strategies.
The Responsible Competitiveness Series of AccountAbility include the reports: 'Responsible Competitiveness: Corporate Responsibility Clusters in Action'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=544]
'The Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index Report 2009'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=3942]
'Trading Accountability: Business, Trade and Investment Policy and Sustainable Development'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=2150]
'Responsible Competitiveness Index 2003: Aligning corporate responsibility and the competitiveness of nations'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=460]
'Responsible Competitiveness: Reshaping Markets Through Responsible Business Practices'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=358]
'Responsible Competitiveness in Europe: Enhancing European Competitiveness through Corporate Responsibility'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=554]
'Responsible Competitiveness in the Arab World 2009: Making sustainable development count in regional markets'[http://www.accountability21.net/publications.aspx?id=4100&terms=the+arab+report]
'The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007: Making Sustainability Count in Global Markets'[http://www.accountability21.net/default2.aspx?id=982]
The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007
The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007: Making Sustainability Count in Global Markets is a report on countries’ efforts to become more competitive through enhancement of responsible business practices. The report suggests what each country can do to perform better in global trade and pinpoints the winners in the competition for implementing more responsible business practices.
According to The Responsible Competitiveness Index, covering 108 countries accounting for 96% of global economic activity, Sweden is the world's most responsibly competitive nation, followed by Denmark, Finland, Iceland and UK. Strong performers outside the European Union include Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, Estonia, Slovenia, Chile and the Republic of Korea.
The report includes a foreword from Al Gore and a dozen essays on responsible competitiveness from experts such as Sir Nicholas Stern (climate change), Laura Tyson (the gender gap), Jean-Philippe Courtois (ICT, social inclusion and competitiveness), Nick Butler (energy security), Peter Eigen (corruption) and Jonathan Lash[http://www.wri.org/profile/jonathan-lash] (preparing for a carbon-constrained future).
The Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index Report 2009
The Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index Report sets out the progress made towards Responsible Competitiveness in Saudi Arabia and suggests responsible competitiveness is the leadership, policies and practices that build sustainable development. The report introduces the Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index (SARCI).
The core of the Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index is an annual assessment of leading businesses in Saudi Arabia. Eligible businesses are large or small, public or private, Saudi or foreign, from any sector. Businesses which participate have had an in-depth discussion of their performance with analysts, based on AccountAbility's global Responsible Competitiveness Index (RCI) framework.
SARCI 2008 shows how 40 Saudi businesses are contributing to responsible competitiveness in the Kingdom.
Responsible Competitiveness in the Arab World 2009: Making sustainable development count in regional markets
Responsible Competitiveness in the Arab World 2009 is the first systematic assessment of regional progress towards sustainable economies and prosperous societies. It provides regional pathways, practical case studies and policy recommendations to outline how the Arab World can convert societies’ existing and emerging challenges into profitable opportunities. The report analyses progress through three elements:
An overview of the Arab World against 100 global peers through the Responsible Competitiveness Index.
A new Arab Responsible Competitiveness Index, customized to provide in-depth analysis of regional performance on issues such as water security, green buildings and Islamic finance.
Essays from regional thoughtleaders on pressing challenges such as food security and human resource development.
|
