The trend is clear: companies are no longer there to serve the interests of capital and shareholders or to provide employment contracts. Today, it must position itself in relation to social, political and environmental issues. We demand transparency and transformative action to address the imperatives of the 21st century: inclusiveness, equity and regeneration for the planet. This is a real break with previous decades. What is and should be corporate social responsibility? In 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory (H&M, Zara) in Bangladesh left a lasting impression. What impact has this tragedy had on sustainable finance, particularly at regulatory level in Switzerland (Responsible Multinationals Initiative of 18 June 2023) and in Europe?
Dominique Biedermann, co-founder of the Ethos Foundation, has been campaigning for 30 years to get companies to embrace sustainability. He looks back at this titanic struggle.