Warsaw, 16 August 2022: Responsible Business Forum (RBF) in Poland, the largest non-governmental organization and WBCSD’s Global Network representative in the country, published its annual report, Poland’s largest overview of CSR initiatives. The 20th edition presents 1,677 practices taken by 283 organizations. The analysis of the initiatives shows that there are growing social expectations concerning corporate responsibility for impact on the community and environment.
This marks an increase by nearly 25% in relation to the previous year and a record in the history of the publication. The growth rate is even larger for the SME sector. Here, good practices were notified by more than 80 micro-, small and medium enterprises. This represents a 40% increase compared to 2020.
Marzena Strzelczak, President & General Director of the Responsible Business Forum, said: “We are happy to see that there is more and more interest in the report and readiness among companies to share their good practices in the area of sustainability. This means more inspiration for everyone to act and cooperate, and a better insight about responsible business in Poland.”
Focus on community involvement, workplace and environment
The publication is centered on ISO 26000 standard, which provides a basis for the classification of CSR initiatives. The three most popular areas are:
- Community involvement and development (544 practices) - especially “Charity & philanthropy”. There has been significant growth in the “Sustainable cities” category, which had the highest representation of good practices of all editions of the report.
- Labor practices (420 practices): nearly one-fifth of all practices notified for this area concerned the mental and physical health of employees and their families.
- Environment (395 practices): There are a number of interesting trends, notably, the measures which resulted from companies’ commitments under their long-term strategies, such as carbon neutrality. It is also clear from the reading of the report that the need to address the biodiversity crisis is one of the major challenges faced by business.
SDGs, health and education still prioritized
The RBF’s report also groups good practices in terms of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In line with last year’s edition, most initiatives address SDG 3 on good health and well-being (519 practices) and SDG 4 on quality education (410 practices).
