The State of Responsible Competitiveness

The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007: Making Sustainability Count in Global Markets is essentially a progress report on countries’ efforts in advancing competitiveness based on responsible business practices. It provides a unique health check on responsible globalization.

It includes a foreword from Al Gore and a dozen essays on responsible competitiveness from experts such as Sir Nicholas Stern (climate change), Laura Tyson (the gender gap), Jean-Philippe Courtois (ICT, social inclusion and competitiveness), Nick Butler (energy security), Peter Eigen (corruption) and Jonathan Lash (preparing for a carbon-constrained future), as well as key constituency views on the need for more assertive policies in advancing this agenda, including Anwar Ibrahim, AccountAbility’s Honorary President and Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Günter Verheugen, European Commission’s Vice President for Enterprise.

Hon. Al Gore, who provides the report’s foreword, concludes: “The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007 is the definitive guide for policy makers and business leaders to understand how markets are reshaped to reward competitiveness for the 21st century”.

The report also identifies major opportunities in more responsible markets in climate change, gender, human rights and anti-corruption. Taken together, these markets will be worth at least $5 trillion by 2050. Smart businesses, climate friendly cities, sunrise sectors and responsible countries can win massive market shares in the global markets of tomorrow. Others will fail to coordinate their strategies and lose out.

The State of Responsible Competitiveness pinpoints the winners in the current line-up to compete responsibily. Just as importantly, it shows what each and every country can do to do better in global trade.

THE INDEX
The Responsible Competitiveness Index, covering 108 countries accounting for 96 per cent of global economic activity, blends 21 data streams from authoritative sources in assessing countries progress in advancing responsible business practices at the heart of their competitiveness strategies and practices.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RESPONSIBLE COMPETITIVENESS WORLD MAP

Sweden is the world’s most responsibly competitive nation. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the UK, Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, and Canada represent the rest of the top 10 in the index. Strong performers outside Europe include Chile, South Africa and the Republic of Korea.

“Governments have a massive role to play in reshaping global markets. If we don’t act, markets will continue to damage people and the environment. The good news is that countries can compete responsibly and be successful, so long as Governments and policy makers put in place the right frameworks. There needn’t be a conflict between compassion and competitiveness, says AccountAbility CEO Dr. Simon Zadek.

Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, commenting on the report: “The State of Responsible Competitiveness demonstrates the practical potential of responsible competitiveness strategies to deliver trade and investment on the ground that strikes the right balance between national and global interests, and public and private gain”.

The State of Responsible Competitiveness Launched at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2007

July 6^th 2007

The Responsible Competitiveness Index was launched on July 6th at a special Ministerial Roundtable on the role of governments in promoting corporate citizenship at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, involving hundreds of chief executives, several heads of state, and more than 40 government ministers.

AccountAbility’s Chief Executive, Simon Zadek, presented the report for Ministers from more than 25 different countries.

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Responsible Competitiveness means markets that reward business practices that deliver improved social, environmental and economic outcomes; and it means economic success for nations that encourage such business practices through public policies, societal norms and citizen actions.

For technical information about the Responsible Competitiveness Index, please click here.

EXPERTS AS ESSAYIST
Big names from different fields have participated in this report through essays. To see the list and the themes, please click here

PODCASTS

To listen to Alex Macgillivray, AccountAbility Head of Programmes and co-author of the report, talking about the report, main findings and recommendations, please click here
To listen to Simon Zadek, AccountAbility’s CEO, talking about the economic importance of the report, relating trade and competitiveness, please click here
To listen to Simon Zadek, AccountAbility's CEO talking to Tony Curzon Price, oDemocracy's CEO, please click here
To listen to Ricardo Melendez-Ortiz, co-founder and Executive Director of the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), please click here

IN THE MEDIA

To read the press release, please click here
To read the second press release, please click here
To read the article on the Guardian, please click here
To read the article on Marketplace NY, please click here
To read the article on CSR Asia, please click here
To read the article on The Times - South Africa, please click here
To read the article on oDemocracy, please click here
To read the article on TV NZ website, please click here
To read the article on The Local - Swedish News in English, please click here
To read the article on Globe and Mail - Canada, please click here
To read the article on SR International Radio Sweden, please click here
To read the article on the Financial Express, India, please click here
To read the article on CSREurope, please click here

Responsible Competitiveness History

Click here to browse past reports in the series.