(Justmeans.com / CSR News) -

March 12, 2010 – Activist U.S. coalition Ceres has released a report urging companies to make immediate and meaningful energy and resource improvements if they want to keep pace with social concerns about climate change and sustainability. 

The Boston-based group, whose members manage roughly $7 billion in assets, is a nationwide network of socially concerned investors, public interest, and environmentalist groups. Their message in the report is clear: Companies that embrace sustainability in their practices as energy prices rise, the world’s population grows, and water becomes scarce will have the competitive advantage to stay ahead in the market.

Companies like General Electric, railroad corporation CSX, and Wal-Mart have already shown what climate-related risks they face and the steps they have taken towards sustainable production and operations because of those risks.  In the next ten years, consumers and investors will expect the same comprehensive disclosure from other businesses.

Ceres President Mindy Lubber said that companies should be viewing sustainability as a competitive race: “If businesses deepen their efforts to solve social and environmental threats, it will position them to innovate and compete in the fast-changing, resource-constrained global economy. It is no longer enough for companies to have special projects or initiatives. Comprehensive sustainability strategies are expected.”

21^st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability:

• Lays out 20 expectations for sustainability that companies should begin to practice immediately, which raises the bar for leadership
• Each expectation contains four broad areas key to corporate sustainability: Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, Disclosure, and Performance.  Each area needs to be addressed for a comprehensive sustainable business strategy
• More than 200 company best practice examples, across the full range of what is currently possible and what companies need to do in the future, are contained in the full report. 
• The full report also features more than 250 resources and tools from global experts, organizations, and thought leaders.