“Large Companies are embracing sustainability reports in various forms but are just as profit driven and unethical behind the scenes”.

Introduction

There is no such thing as an agreed definition for exactly what sustainability means. However what we do know is that sustainability is about taking what we require to live now, without tarnishing its potential for people in the future to meet their needs (LandLearnNSW, 2016). Sustainability is based around 3 pillars, these are economic, social and environmental factors. Sustainability reporting is the practice of measuring, disclosing and being accountable to internal and external stakeholders for organisational performance against specific environmental, social and economic governance goals and metrics (lecture notes, 2016). Although it is not a legal requirement for a company to report on sustainability, it is estimated that almost 93% of the top 250 companies globally will do so (lecture notes, 2016). Where did sustainability begin? Sustainability first came into the public eye at a United Nations conference on the human environment, this was located in Stockholm Sweden in 1972 (Moore, 2014). Over 100 nations attended and agreed on an action plan for the human environment. Furthermore the real development of sustainability came at a UN conference in bas in Rio De Janeiro in 1992. It was here where 130 nations signed an agreement climate change, Biodiversity and an action plan called Agenda 21 (Cleveland, Kubiszewski, Miller, 2012).
For my Essay, I intend to investigate the CSR of Cisco Systems Inc. According to the CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, Cisco have been developing their Corporate Social Responsibility in many areas, highlighting education, healthcare, and specifically mentioning their recent progress with environmental goals. The companies motto states, “Connect Everything, Innovate Everywhere, and