10.07.2008 - 11:59pm ET

You've seen them: the 'couch' ads featuring traditional adversaries such as Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton sitting side-by-side on a sofa to join forces in addressing the climate crisis. The "Unlikely Alliances" ad campaign, which popularized understanding of the high stakes of climate change, won this year's EthicMark Award for pointing the way "for advertising to achieve its true potential as an agent for creating positive futures for the human family." So said sustainability pioneer Hazel Henderson of Ethical Markets in presenting the award to the Martin Agency and the Alliance for Climate Protection (the folks behind the "We Can Solve It" initiative launched with Al GoreÕs Nobel prize money) at the Green Media Show Conference last week in Boston.

The ad campaign, and the conference, underline the vital role communication plays in advancing sustainability: in order to act, we must first understand. For example, in a Green Media Show panel on corporate sustainability reporting, imc2 vice president of CSR Beth Bengtson discussed her new study on The State of Sustainability Communication. Based on an earlier SIRAN study finding that 86 of S&P 100 companies have some level of sustainability communications, the imc2 report identifies best practices in four sustainability communication categories: holistic definition, integration, engagement, and transparency. The study documents a clear connection between sustainability action and communication, for example spotlighting GM's use of Web 2.0 social networking tools such as blogs, wikis, and chats to engage directly with stakeholders on sustainability issues.

"Can Web 2.0 Revolutionize Corporate Responsibility?" was the title of a luncheon panel last week in the Carnegie Council Workshop for Ethics in Business series, framed by a recent Financial Times editorial from panelists Steve Rochlin of AccountAbility and James Farrar of SAP. "Although Web 2.0 can help businesses interact with stakeholders to find solutions to problems, big challenges remain over how all of these groups will develop trust," said Devin Stewart of the Carnegie Council. "For example, user ratings, such as those on eBay, provide a benchmark for measuring a user's integrity, but how can we be sure that the ratings came from reliable sources?"

Joining these panelists was CSRwire's senior editor Emily Polk, who discussed CSRwire's new Video, Commentary and Research (VCR) platform that allows users to upload multimedia resources such as podcasts and blogs. In addition to the above-mentioned study that Bengtson uploaded to VCR, presentations from last month's "Transparency: Risk or Opportunity?" forum hosted by Framework: CR have been added to VCR. Check out the primer on "Where to start" in identifying sustainability issues from Aleksandra Dobkowski-Joy of Framework: CR, or delve deeper with "Meditations on Carbon Disclosure" from climate attorney William Thomas.

This article was written by CSRwire contributor Bill Baue.

CSRwire's Multimedia Picks of the Week

Treehugger scored a great interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, which delves into the nuts and bolts of the new Wikia Green project and tackles the role that free culture can play in saving the world (hint: it's a big role)!

Here's some great news from the Vatican: Vatican City is installing 2,700 solar panels on top of the papal audience hall. This comes as no great surprise since this Pope is from Germany, the current world leader in solar energy. The panels were donated by the German company SolarWorld.

Have a listen to the new Ted's Montana and Grill podcast featuring Ted Turner talking with local restaurateurs about ways the industry can come together for the environment. Since its founding in 2002, the restaurants been recycling nearly all of its paper, plastic, aluminum and glass products. Menus are printed on recycled paper and soft drinks come in recyclable glass bottles.

The most recent report from RepRisk's most environmentally and socially controversial companies includes companies that have been severely criticized by the world's media and NGOs for human rights abuses, severe environmental violations, corruption and bribery, breaches of labor, and health and safety standards. Check it out here!

To read the latest corporate social responsibility news from leading socially responsible organizations, visit http://www.csrwire.com/LastAlert.html.

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