UPsides

'UPsides' is a new magazine about finance and development. It's a quarterly international magazine, published by FMO, the Netherlands Development Finance Company. The first issue is available online: http://www.upsides.nl/Download/Upsides_1.pdf

On Page 24 and 25, the TSF Project is being presented.

Two New Articles

Dear reader,

Two recently published articles are both very interesting to check out (links attached to the covers above)

First off, a document titled "Sustainability Management and Reporting' (UNEP FI, Dec 2006). The document zooms in on the benefits for financial institutions in developing and emerging economies. Quote: ' It is becoming increasingly apparent that full disclosure and transparent reporting around environmental, social and governance issues – in fact the whole spectrum of issues that make up sustainability – is a key differentiating factor between those institutions that are leading and those which are reactive in this complex area.'

The second document, titled 'The do's and dont's of Sustainable Banking' (BankTrack, Nov 2006), challenges banks to 'embark upon the journey towards sustainability'. This document is written not especially for microfinance banks or emerging countries, but it nevertheless contains some interesting viewpoints, for instance this:

' Don’t treat sustainability as a niche market. Do recognize that sustainability is already at the core of all your business activities, as most activities financed by your bank have social and environmental impacts, be they positive or negative. The challenge is to recognize these impacts and shift their balance in a positive direction.'

New TBL Site

I produced a new site, dedicated to the Triple Bottom Line in Microfinance: www.tblmicrofinance.com

Check it out and tell me what you think!

Geert Jan

Newsletter !

Dear Participants,

The 5th TSF Newsletter is OUT!
We think this Newsletter will give you a good impression of how the Project is developing by reading about the October Workshop and GRI event in Amsterdam, the TSF Project Webspace, Halifax discussions on social performance, and the way forward (including coming Worksheets).

Click HERE to view the newsletter on line.

Do you all remember to feed-back your answers to our latest Worksheet??

Thank you all, and

Warm season greetings from The Netherlands!

Question to Reader

Dear reader of this Post,

For us to understand who is checking these pages, may we ask you to either leave a comment OR send a direct email to gj.schuite@facetbv.nl (indicating 'I visited the TSF Blog').

On top of this, of course ALL comments and replies are more than welcome. We promise to get back to every one commenter personally.

Teodorina
Geert Jan

Four Scenarios for the Future of Microfinance

Here's a link to a recent 'Focus Note' by CGAP, summarizing the results of a 'scenario-building exercise to help anticipate and prepare for the (...) forces that will shape the future of microfinance'.

A quote:
" ... it is essential to temper expectations about the extent to which microfinance can eliminate poverty or reach the very bottom—destitute households—sustainably. A realistic evidence-based story must be provided. The search for better measures of impact remains an important
strategy to prepare for the critiques that will inevitably come and capitalize on the real potential of microfinance."

GRI Conference - brief evaluation

The G3 launch was the centerpiece of GRI’s global conference on sustainability and reporting that took place 4-6 th October 2006 in Amsterdam, where 1000 opinion leaders and experts from around the world have gathered. The event represented the pinnacle of a three-year intensive development process which engaged thousands of stakeholders in business and civil society worldwide.
Business leaders now see a clear business case for sustainability reporting, which reduces risk and the cost of capital, helps attract and retain customers and staff, supports stakeholder engagement and creates new business opportunities.
It is important to note that at the G3 conference for the first time since the inception of the GRI in1998 both the speakers and the audience addressed the GRI with a tone demonstrating full acceptance and agreement on its role and position as global sustainability reporting standard: “As G3 is being launched, we enter a new era in the quality of non-financial reporting. GRI is absolutely important platform for partnerships. ” (A.Steiner), “G3 launch is an enormous achievement, now we all have to apply it.” (M.M. Stuart)

Other key points highlighted throughout the conference include:

1. A call to the governments to take a more proactive role by establishment of “...smart regulation” on CSR and sustainability reporting
2. Evidence of growing interest from the investment community in sustainability aspects of business performance and their place in the investment analysis and decision-making
3. Strong consensus on the business case of CSR and the value of sustainability reporting as a “tool for change” within the company, and special focus on the reporting as a tool for strengthening the business competitiveness through boosting innovation, development of new business models and products, attracting and retaining talent
4. The importance of the SME sector for the successful implementation of the CSR and sustainability agendas: “We will not address G3 if we don’t bring SMEs and introduce them to CSR and sustainability reporting. We need to reach million people and businesses in developing countries. We need leadership, need global corporations to use their supply chains to lead the process.” ( M.M. Stuart); “We need a positive locally based sustainable development agenda based on common values: prosperity, solidarity, security.” (M. Wallstrom).
5. Recommendations for further development of the GRI framework:
· Indicators and technical protocols, sector supplements, national annexes: “The quest for widening and deepening of the current reporting framework would continue by focusing on indicators improvement, one by one: “Impact indicators are new area not included in G3. Identification of critical issues is what the GRI process is expected to do…New discussions have started addressing innovation based on sustainability reporting, and related to indicator protocols.” (E. Lighteringen, GRI) and by further expansion of the sector supplements and development of national annexes. Sector specific issues will be the key for further growth of the GRI.
· Recommendations sustainability reporting to be combined with financial reporting: “CSR reporting must be combined with financial reporting – this is critical for the sustainability of the company.” (ABN AMRO)
6. A call for partnerships and collaboration between the CSR initiatives and standards.

Making the Switch to G3

Dear TSF Participants,
Some of you will consider to report, using the new GRI Guidelines. The GRI Website gives a wide range of information, including how to make the switch from the '2002 Guidelines' to 'G3'.

Click here to find out more!

Sustainable Banking Awards

We often receive questions from TSF participants about sustainability contests and transparency prizes. The information below might be interesting for you:

The FT Sustainable Banking Awards were created by the Financial Times in association with the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, to acknowledge the progress that banks have made in integrating social, environmental and corporate governance objectives into their operations while maximising shareholder value. The goal is to highlight initiatives that work and to reward progress on the journey towards sustainability. It is a best-in-class measure, not an absolute measure. We hope the awards – now in their second year -- will act as a catalyst for further innovation in sustainable banking, helping to encourage best practice and transparency in the way banks approach sustainability and stimulate debate on the role banks can or should play in the area of sustainability.

In case you want more information, you might check the website, and/or contact gj.schuite@facetbv.nl. I can support and coordinate if needed.

Microcredit Summit 2006

Dear Participants,

Soon we will provide you with information about the outcomes of the Social Performance Taskforce Meeting, held in Halifax, Canada, last week Friday and Saturday (10 and 11 Nov. 2006, see photo below). We made some decisions about a list of (22) social performance indicators. As soon as the list is available, we will disseminate this list actively to all participants.

For now, we would like to inform you about some background reading materials and reports, produced for the Summit by a range of organisations and individuals. You can find the overview here: http://www.microcreditsummit.org/papers/allpapers.htm

Will be back soon!!

Geert Jan