Stora Enso's Board of Directors today reviewed Stora Enso's principles for Corporate Social Responsibility. The principles address concrete questions related to human rights, business practices, communications and community involvement. Equality, safety, working conditions and child labour are examples of topics covered by the principles. The principles focus on the social and socio-economic aspects of sustainability, because the Group already has a strong record on financial performance and environmental management systems, the other two elements of sustainability.
The principles are based on internationally accepted statements, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core ILO conventions. Stora Enso has also decided to support the United Nation's Global Compact and its nine initiatives. The Global Compact was launched by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000. He encouraged world business leaders to help to make globalization work for all the world's people.
"Historically, many communities developed around sawmills or paper mills, and responsibility was typically a local concept, but today one must also consider responsibility at the global level. At a time of intensifying consolidation, responsibility in all operations is the way to prepare for a truly global presence," says CEO Jukka Härmälä.
Applying the principles in day-to-day work will be the next step. Updating quality management systems, and monitoring and reporting performance in social and socio-economic areas are examples of actions to be taken.
For more information, please contact:
Björn Hägglund, Deputy CEO, tel: +44 20 8432 1530
Christer Ågren, Executive Vice President, Human Resources,
tel: +44 20 8432 1587
Kari Vainio, Executive Vice President, Communications and Investor Relations,
tel: +44 20 8432 1551
More information at: www.storaenso.com
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