Corporate Responsibility in the Natural Stone Sector. The Effectiveness of Voluntary CSR Initiatives in Achieving Sustainability

      Аннотация: In the global value chain of natural stone products such as pavement, grave stones and kitchen tops, many sustainability issues prevail. The last decade has seen a rise of collective private sector voluntary initiatives which attempt to improve labour and environmental conditions in natural stone quarries and processing factories in emerging economies. This research analyses the effectiveness of five West-European CSR initiatives in achieving sustainability in natural stone suppliers. Based on the results, in order to increase the initiatives’ rather low levels of effectiveness, recommended is to increase transparency and include local suppliers’ and workers’ voice more. However, for achieving change in a less-visible global supply chain like the natural stone sector, executing the European sustainable procurement policy is more powerful than the efforts of voluntary CSR initiatives.

Ключевые слова: Corporate Responsibility, CSR, initiatives, responsible business, sustainability, Sustainable development, natural stone sector, natural stone industry