How to become a Good Corporate Citizen - guidance for your organisation
Good Corporate Citizenship has several different components, and getting started can seem like a big task. But by registering with the Good Corporate Citizenship Assessment Model – and taking the test – you are making a good start.
The following steps are recommended to help you introduce sustainable development into the work of your organisation as a whole, and transform the way it operates.
Key steps
Register with the Good Corporate Citizenship Assessment Model
Register with the Good Corporate Citizenship Assessment Model, and take the self-assessment test. The test should be taken every six months or so, and performance monitored over time against our recommended targets.
Nominate a sustainable development champion
Nominating a champion to spearhead sustainable development in your organisation is important to drive change effectively. Ideally, the champion will be an influential member of your organisation’s Board, who can drive the agenda throughout your organisation. For larger organisations, the champion can chair a sustainable development committee, drawing on expertise from across the organisation, working together to produce change.
Develop a Board-level sustainable development management plan
All organisations should develop a Board-level sustainable development management plan. This should include the six key elements of the Good Corporate Citizenship Assessment Model, and a carbon management plan (see below). NHS organisations should review their plan and report progress in their Annual Report.
» Guidance on how to develop a Board Level Sustainable Development Plan.
Incorporate a Board-level carbon management plan
The sustainable development management plan should incorporate your organisation’s carbon reduction commitments. NHS organisations should establish and understand their carbon footprint, and set targets and trajectories that meet the requirements of the Climate Change Act and the guidance set out in Saving Carbon, Improving Health: The NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy. This advises that the NHS as a whole should have a target of reducing its 2007 carbon footprint by 10% by 2015.
Raising awareness and changing behaviour
Develop an internal and external communications strategy to raise awareness of your sustainable development management plan amongst staff, patients, visitors and the local community, and encourage significant, ongoing behaviour change.