The financial turmoil of recent months may provide new avenues for analysing or developing CSR. My second question is: will the concept of CSR, whose global spread has been promoted by globalisation, result in new forms of managerial responsibility? It is vital that, in companies, the CSR approach feeds into risk management. Banks, for instance, seek to better understand, beyond their direct impact (environmental footprint), their indirect role through the projects, investments or businesses they choose to fund, i.e. through the financing of a more sustainable economy. Some experts have even introduced the concept of “sustainable finance”. This is the notion whereby the banking sector commits to ensuring transparency, long-term governance, wellinformed choices and sustainable markets. In 2003, the network of NGOs, Banktrack, defined a benchmark against which civil society could measure the commitment of the banking sector in terms of sustainability. The current financial crisis left no doubt as to the fact that financial institutions exert a substantial indirect impact on society and its economy. This impact may be considerable in both directions and go far beyond the mere financing of projects or management of risk. Perhaps confidence in the financial sector could be rekindled thanks to such notions, with a return to fundamentals: simplicity (of products in particular, circuits and funding of companies or virtuous projects), transparency, ethics and balance. My third question is: can CSR give rise to an alternative or complementary regulatory approach that could reinforce global regulation policies?
I would now like to discuss three questions in particular. The first is whether CSR is a stable concept or one that is still evolving? This concept broadly stems from that of sustainable development, which is defined as development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. Its blueprint was set out at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (the first Earth Summit). It is based on the principle of development that is economically efficient, socially equitable and ecologically sustainable. CSR, whose initial objective was accountability, still largely appears to be an evolving paradigm closely linked to the current transition towards a new economic model. BIS Review 132/2008  1  In this respect, Rio brought to the fore the need for an ISO standard at the company level in order for companies themselves to take account of their impact and change their processes as part of a preventive approach. The UN addressed this dimension and brings together, under its aegis, the initiatives of the major companies that adhere to a relatively general charter. The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (also known as Rio Plus 10 or the Second Earth Summit), largely focused on companies wishing to take centre stage in the protection of the planet and adopt a proactive role. The ethical dimension of CSR lends strength to the questions of stakeholders and employees as to how their funds are used.