Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) jobs appear to have been another casualty of the global economic recession. But, the good news is that, like other economic indicators, this one appears to be on the upswing.

There is an increasing number of women who are in leadership roles in sustainability. As part of Women’s History Month, let’s take a look at ten women who are making strides in sustainability and shaping ethical consumerism. Add women in sustainability that you admire to the list in the comments section.

Alcoa is company who demonstrates year after year a commitment to dialogue, accountability and transparency, in pursuit of sustainability, and delivers tangible measurable results, but has built a highly criticized smelter in Iceland, which is in conflict with good environmental practice. Does this make them hypocritical or simply a business which delivers more benefit to society via its core activities than the damage it does?

According to the white paper, “Developing a Sustainability Strategy”, published by Pike Research, successful corporate sustainability programs share a common foundation and are supported by three key pillars: executive buy-in from the start, creation of an effective sustainability committee, and the establishment of clear and measurable sustainability goals.

In the webinar “Building a Balanced Sustainable Brand Strategy”, Peter Salmon talks about a platform that helps companies make the transition to more environmentally sustainable and efficient practices.

Elaine Cohen explores the changes that are taking place in sustainability report and makes an assessment on the implications of those changes on organization sustainability. She provides a list of characteristics of what she thinks are needed in an effective online sustainability report that is transparent, engages the reader, and opens up a dialogue.

Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is gaining much importance in many industries due to pressure from the government and environmental consciousness among the customers, to gain competitive advantage. We have compiled a list of Green Supply Chain studies to assist you in your efforts to address these issues. The green supply chain studies we spotlight cover the following topics: the role that the logistics and transport sector plays in reducing emissions; the effects of ISO 14001 certification on the promotion of green supply chain management (GSCM), research on interest and implementation of green supply chain initiatives; a quantitative picture of current sustainable supply chain practices and plans; a measurement and quantification of how companies are managing the complexities of supply chain demands, distribution costs and environmental concerns; key drivers of sustainable supply chains;a new integrated supply chain model that takes into account sustainability parameters such as CO2 emissions reduction, reduced energy consumption, better traceability and reduced traffic congestion;best practices for companies looking to green their supply chains ; an outline of the supply chain green initiatives currently implemented or planned in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution;survey of sustainable packaging policies ;a look at the growing role of procurement organizations within sustainability efforts institutions of higher learning; a categorization of research and practice in purchasing, manufacturing, outbound, and reverse logistics dimensions;a framework for measuring the “green-ness”of green supply chain initiatives, the business case for green supply management initiavies, research on the debate by empirically evaluating the relationship between EMS and GSCM practices.

Elaine reviews the procurement section of the Ethical Corporation’s latest research publication on How to embed Corporate Responsibility across different parts of your Company and how issues of sustainability and ethics are embedded in the supply chain.

A new report entitled Global Oil & Gas – The Adaptation Challenge has identified top five impacts of climate change to the oil and gas industry. While three quarters of the world’s oil and gas companies surveyed believe climate change could impact their business, only 19 percent are taking action as noted in this report.