Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important issue for business. More than ever climate change, the finiteness of resources and human rights are issues that also concern business. A growing number of companies and organisations are addressing these ecological and social needs, e.g. in the form of reports and product innovations or by accounting for social and environmental standards. How is sustainability management actually practiced in German companies and what impact do these activities have? To what extent is sustainability integrated in the strategies and core businesses of companies?
Answers to these and other questions are given by the project “Corporate Sustainability Barometer” – How sustainable is business?”, which identifies the state of practice of corporate sustainability and its development. The study is conducted in cooperation between the Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) of the Leuphana University Lüneburg with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The data for the “Corporate Sustainability Barometer” are collected using a survey conducted by the CSM. As a longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the DAX 30 and MDAX 50 companies together with SMEs and family businesses, the study is a comprehensive, broad-based analysis of the practice of corporate sustainability in Germany. In addition to the current state and development over time, this study also involves the description and analysis of current, relevant topics in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability.
The CSM and PwC hope that this project can make a contribution to increasing public awareness both of the importance of sustainability for companies as well as of the importance of companies for sustainable development. This study is intended to be a long-term project.
Together with determining the state of practice and development of corporate sustainability, it is the goal of the “Corporate Sustainability Barometer” project to determine the relevance of sustainability topics as well as success factors contributing to corporate sustainability. This data will be used to develop recommendations and enable companies to benchmark their own position.
The results will be published in spring 2010 and discussed in a workshop.

Remarks: The project was conducted in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).