Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
For many years, companies have often carried out their activities without being guided by tools that would require them to be accountable for their actions. In many cases, the nature, handling, and storage of their products have had negative impacts on the climate, water, air, soil, biodiversity, and human health.
Several landmark cases illustrate that corporate activities have often had negative impacts on the environment and on human health (according to numerous environmental and human rights advocates):
The Seveso disaster (1976) at the ICMESA plant, dedicated to the pharmaceutical industry: a chemical reactor producing trichlorophenol experienced a serious incident, with temperatures rising to 220°C, leading to the formation of dioxin. A toxic cloud spread over the city, causing the death of many animals and severe skin lesions among the population.
In December 1984, in Bhopal, India, a toxic cloud of one of the most dangerous gases (25 tons of methyl isocyanate gas) leaked from a factory owned by a subsidiary of the American multinational Union Carbide. The disaster resulted in 2,300 deaths and 300,000 injured, including 12,000 serious cases.
In the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), between 2007 and 2009, the multinational company ENI used gas flaring practices at the M’Boundi site, where the volume of gas burned exceeded 1 billion cubic meters per year. The use of this practice had significant negative impacts on both people and the environment. Communities living near the M’Boundi site reported adverse health effects, including respiratory problems, bronchitis, severe headaches, skin infections, and other illnesses. Environmental impacts included pollution of water sources and agricultural crops.
In response to the context described above, between 2014 and 2016, Protecting Environment provided advice, technical assistance, and advocacy for the establishment of three (3) governance bodies for the program promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in the Republic of the Congo (PRSEC), which we designed on behalf of the CES. These bodies include: the Strategic High Commission (HCS), the CSR Platform, and the Ethics Committee managing the CSR label.
As a result of advocacy efforts led by the CES, the Ministry of Industrial Development and Promotion of the Private Sector (MDIPSP) issued Service Note No. 1431/MDIPSP/CAB on September 4, 2014, establishing a commission responsible for organizing a national capacity-building seminar on CSR concepts.