Accountability: innovating for the global recovery

As we take stock of a hectic year, we are delighted to say that our members have all weathered the global downturn. Indeed many have emerged with enhanced reputations for responsible leadership. Congratulations to all. It has also been an eventful year for Council members and outgoing board members. To take just a few examples: Kumi Naidoo took up the challenge of chairing Greenpeace in the run-up to what he has called the 'Copenhagen crime scene'; Mark Line created Two Tomorrows; and Anne Simpson moved to CalPers. Our country representatives have also been busy promoting accountability, from Toronto to Madrid and from Stockholm to Amman.
AccountAbility's flagship revised AA1000 Principles and Standards have seen rapid uptake in the major sustainability reporting countries, and also enjoyed strong interest in emerging markets. The Stakeholder Engagement revision is now under way with local consultations taking place globally and an active Wiki-platform. The challenge for 2010 is to mainstream use of the standards - and we are building a new team to tackle this. We also aim to broaden AA1000's applicability to emerging areas of corporate reporting, like carbon emissions. One of the few things that President Obama and Premier Wen agreed on in Copenhagen last week was the vital importance of more effective climate accountability. We have begun working intensively in this area and the value of our contributions - notably with Project Catalyst and in building a new climate index - is now being recognized. ormidable challenges may remain to secure a global climate deal, but exciting innovations deserve celebration, from Brazil's Amazon Fund and George Soros' Climate Policy Initiative to Korea's Green Growth plan and the high-tech Planetary Skin Institute. 2010 is all about reinventing global processes while ensuring such initiatives gain resources, reach scale and stay accountable.
2009 has seen our team busy advising dozens of companies on their accountability and sustainable development strategies. Clients include Global 100 corporations and emerging market leaders, in all industrial sectors. The team has undertaken major assignments for clients in North America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa as well as in Europe.It has been a bruising year for the textiles sector, and the MFA Forum has been in the thick of finding solutions. 2009 closed with the dreadful news of Neil Kearney's passing while on assignment in Bangladesh. In Neil, textile workers have lost an untiring global advocate. However, the Forum's unrivalled network actually means a strengthening of its resolve to build decent work and sustainability for the sector and its stakeholders.The research & policy team has been drinking its own medicine and become hyper-productive, with benchmark Chinese and Arabic language Responsible Competitiveness reports, working with partners Sustainability Excellence ( Amman) and WTO Tribune ( Beijing). We moved into the second year of the Saudi Responsible Competitiveness Index. And we are now ready to build our insights from these and three other projects - in Chile, Jordan and China - into a major programme for 2010-12.We launched the Collaborative Governance Observatory, and initiated a major multi-year programme - with ISEAL and SECO - on scaling up voluntary standards. Meanwhile we continued first-class work helping partnerships live up to their accountability commitments while staying focused on their outcomes.
Finally, our global team, now working out of Beijing and Sao Paulo as well as London and Washington DC, produced insightful work on consumer behaviour during the downturn, sustainability in the outsourcing sector, responsible investment, Chinese firms in Africa, web 2.0 and many other hot topics.What makes these accountability innovations possible? Our inspired, hard-working, high-spirited team of staff, associates, interns and project partners. As usual, we will be welcoming new team members in the New Year, and saying farewell to others who are moving on. One person stands out for his colossal contributions to the organization and its mission; After seven years, Simon Zadek moved on from AccountAbility at the end of 2009. As we get ready for the exciting challenges of 2010, we are sure you will want to join us in our thanks to Simon - indeed to all those who have created a unique organization in great shape for 2010 and beyond. We are looking forward to working with you again just as soon as the festivities are finished!