On 25^th November, 2016, the European Chamber Nanjing Chapter hosted its 3^rd CSR Awards, gathering prominent leaders and CSR practitioners from all over China. The awards acknowledged CSR successes, raised sustainability awareness and shared the experiences of organisations, all of which are looking to further embrace corporate responsibility in China. 

“One strategic approach for societal value creation is to carefully assess the steps and partners in the value chain and establish policies and initiatives that reduce the potential negative impacts of the corporation’s activities in the environment and in communities. That is the basis of the sustainability policies of corporations. The long-term orientation that it requires can create significant value for corporations, in terms of reduced future costs and increased resilience of value chains, in addition to the value it creates for stakeholders and the environment.”

—Filipe Santos
Visiting Professor of Social Entrepreneurship, INSEAD

The aim of the European Chamber’s 3^rd CSR awards was to help foster innovation in CSR. The 2016 event featured new award categories, a student CSR essay competition and panel discussions led by company leaders.

The new award categories were introduced to make the awards more inclusive, sustainable and distinctive. The multinational corporation (MNC) category, included three new sub-categories: Employee Development, Responsible Value Chain Development and Environmental Protection and Sustainability. An award category for SME Responsible Innovation was also added.

We would like to extend our thanks to our distinguished panel of nine judges, who gave their time to review all entries: Julia Broussard, Country Programme Manager, UN Women China Office; Julia Güsten, Managing Partner, Sharehouse (Nanjing) Co Ltd; Dr Markus Hermann, HR Director, BASF-YPC Company Ltd; Rolf H. Koehler, Principal, Koehler and Co Ltd, Hong Kong; Pascal Marmier, CEO, Swissnex China; Professor Filipe Santos, President, Portugal Social Innovation; Ms She Hongyu, Assistant to Secretary General, Amity Foundation; Mr Hui Zhang, Director of UTC Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility and Chair, CSR Forum, European Chamber; and James Zhou, Charter President, Rotary Club, Hangzhou.

• Siemens took home the award for Employee Development thanks to the Siemens Employee Volunteer Association. This employee-managed organisation focuses on improving access to education, providing greater access to science and technology and sustaining the community.
• Nestle took first in Responsible Value Chain Development due to its initiative in Yunnan’s coffee industry. Having introduced coffee into Yunnan over 30 years ago, Nestle has provided substantial support for the industry through training and technical assistance, developing new opportunities for the region.
• Michelin China took the award in Sustainable Growth and Environmental protection with their substantial progress in decreasing their environmental footprint. Having cut CO₂ emissions by 49.3% and water use by 76.7% since 2013, Michelin continues to establish more and more ambitious goals in its efforts to further minimise its environmental footprint.
• First Respond took the award in Responsible Innovation for an SME. First Respond was established to help people in China develop the skills and the will to save others in life-threatening situations. Having already trained more than 90,000 citizens, First Respond looks forward to further expansion.

In order to increase participation and spread awareness among young people, high school and university students were invited to submit their essays on the case study: ‘A minority village after an earthquake’. Students exercised their analytical and creative skills to develop both disaster relief and long-term reconstruction solutions.

Panel 1

Chaired by Nanjing Chapter board member Petra Grandinson, the first panel focused on the topic Evolving from CSR as a set of principles to creating shared value throughout the value chain.

Jonathan Dong, from Nestle China, kicked things off with an introduction to the expansion of value throughout the dairy production chain. Ms Chia-Lin Coispeau, co-founder of Maverlinn Impact Innovation, followed up with a presentation on how aspirational brands can create shared value, with examples that demonstrated the progress of CSR in China. She also discussed the link between a company’s reputation and its stock value. The next presentation was delivered by Thierry Yvon, National Risk Prevention Director of Carrefour China. Mr Yvon applied the value of CSR principles to methods of developing sustainable trust with consumers. Carrefour has dedicated itself to assuring food safety throughout its operations, he said. Finally, Dr Monique Taylor, Campus Dean and Executive Director of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Nanjing discussed several strategies for developing CSR principles among college students so that they can take them into their careers. The first panel concluded with a Q&A session.

Panel 2

The second panel was chaired by Xavier Durand-Delacre, Senior VP of Arkema Asia-Pacific and President of Arkema China. He gave a presentation on integrating CSR and innovation into company strategies to maximise social, economic and environmental impact. Next, Ms Yixing Hao, EP Manager of Michelin China, discussed ways that companies can approach environmental sustainability. The third presentation was delivered by Michael Rosenthal, President of Miss Earth China, on the theme How green is the green revolution? He highlighted many of the discrepancies that can be found within the green movement, and encouraged a more comprehensive view on evaluating green actions. The next discussion was led by Rolf H. Koehler, a Board Member of AHK Shanghai. Mr Koehler raised the issue of inclusion in our economic system, and used discussion points from AHK’s More than a Market Forum to highlight excluded populations. Finally Catherine Chauvinc, Group Vice President of Aden Services, discussed various ways that CSR can be used to reinforce corporate culture.

“The EUCCC CSR awards in China allowed voices of corporations, universities, social entrepreneurs and not-for-profit organisations, wholeheartedly invested in CSR, to be heard. As social entrepreneurs, we would like to warmly thank the highly dedicated EUCCC executives, discussion panellists, judges and all participating organisations and students. This uniquely diverse and powerful cross-fertilising dialogue fostered CSR, responsible innovation and impact leadership for shared value creation and economic progress to ensure a bright future for the generations to come, in a well-preserved environment. Now is indeed time for action.”

—Chia-Lin Coispeau, Founder
Maverlinn Impact Innovation (Shanghai)

We would like to thank our sponsors BASF-YCP, Nestle and Maverlinn.