Corporate Social Responsibility - Companies in th News BP

Summary BP the company What are the issues? What do the critics say? What does BP say? Find out for yourself

Summary

BP is one of the largest companies in the world - with a turnover dwarfing that of some nation states. As a company, it is directly linked with the use of fossil fuels linked with major environmental challenges on a scale. No company has achieved a higher profile in its stated determination to completely re-orientate the to adapt to the needs of a more sustainable society. With its major - and controversial - rebranding and commitment to becoming a sustainable energy company rather than simply an oil company - it has inspire impressed some, and irritated others.

During his time in charge, Lord John Browne established himself as one of the most thoughtful business le taking a lead in corporate social responsibility. This was, however, a position that became tarnished at the when a series of major accidents hit the company as a result of safety and maintenance failures.

BP the company

BP is one of the world's leading oil companies on the basis of market capitalisation and proven reserves. It businesses are Exploration and Production, Refining and Marketing, and Chemicals. Exploration and Prod activities include oil and natural gas exploration and field development and production, together with pipe transportation, natural gas processing and gas and power marketing. The activities of Refining and Market include oil supply and trading as well as refining and marketing. Chemicals activities include petrochemic manufacturing and marketing. In addition, the Company has a solar energy business which is one of the w largest manufacturers of photovoltaic modules and systems.

What are the issues?

There are very few aspects of how a company behaves as a corporate citizen that do not apply to a compan size and nature of BP. The most significant of these are the sheer environmental impact - not simply of the extraction of oil and the energy use of BP's own operation, but more significantly of the impact on climate of the actual use of all the oil by BP's customers. The state of current scientific evidence raises serious que marks over whether or not human society can actually afford to burn all the hydrocarbons whose existence already identified - never mind potential future discoveries. Twenty years ago, people worried that one day

would run out. Now, it is the case that the real issue has been identified as one of emissions.

A company with such extensive operations in developing countries also needs to carefully manage its appr human rights, and ethical business practices. BP will have significant impact on local communities - both employer and through the nature of its on-the-ground operations. It should expect to seriously seek to redu negative impacts here, and to invest seriously in those communities.

BP as a global player, is immensely powerful. It has no democratic legitimacy, but often is better able to le the social development of the planet than national governments. This is a dilemma it needs to handle caref

What do the critics say?

BP's move towards positioning itself as a sustainable energy company has been the proverbial red rag to a some. They point out that BP's claim to be a global leader in producing the cleanest burning fossil fuel (na gas) is an incremental improvement over oil at best, and a distraction from getting away from fossil fuels a BP, they claim, has co-opted the language of the environmentalists without the real commitment to deliver

Campaigners named BP as one of the "top ten worst corporations" in 2006 following the Prudhoe Bay oil They say that since branding itself an environmentally sound corporation with the "Beyond Petroleum" tag 1997, BP has been hit with a number of fines for major pollution incidents.

What does BP say?

BP states that it recognises the significant environmental and social challenges faced by the world in the 2 century. It believes it can, and should, play a part in addressing and resolving many of the issues associate sustainable development. It also accepts that while the company can be part of the solution, it cannot and s not be the whole solution. Governments, companies and civil society must fins effective ways of working

Alongside the standard financial figures, BP reports its own greenhouse gas and other emissions, oil spilla employee satisfaction, days lost through injury at work, and community investment across the world.

BP's policy statement commits the company to ambitious and wide-ranging business principles. The comp reporting seeks to illustrate how the company is meeting these commitments in a manner that supports the profitability of the business.

In his final introduction to a BP social responsibility report, Lord Browne said: "The past two years have b difficult for BP. In March 2005, at the Texas City refinery, we suffered a tragedy in which 15 people died many more were seriously injured. We have also experienced operational difficulties in Alaska and the po destabilizing effects of intense and at times unbalanced media scrutiny and criticism.

"Given that context, the achievements recorded in this document, our sixteenth annual report on non-finan performance, are remarkable and a great testimony to the BP team across the world:

an improvement in personal safety, with reported recordable injury frequency the lowest in our rec history ongoing improvements in our environmental impact across a series of measures an improvement in the development of people, including an increase in the number of women in le since 2000 and, of course, a strong financial performance allowing us to invest for the future and to reward tho

trust us with their savings"