From the Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Board

There is an apparent irony in that while corporate social responsibility ranks increasingly highly in boardrooms, some media commentators suggest that actual practices are often considered of no real benefit to civil society.

One newspaper article put this phenomenon down to a misunderstanding of society's expectations by business. The same article posed the question: How then do companies respond to address the challenge?

It is true that companies must consider their involvement with society to be the responsibility of everyone that works there. It goes much broader than the responsibility of a dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility division. It is true that they should consider a genuine responsiveness to society to be paramount to the entire business. It follows then that social responsibility is not separate from core business activities. In fact, as the managing director stated in last year's Corporate Citizenship Report, business growth and social responsibility are intertwined and are each levers for the accomplishment of the other.

A consideration for companies is the extent of the effort they expend on actually involving communities in their planning and in the execution of those plans. If companies are not accurately delivering against the requirements of their communities, perhaps those communities, as partners, could assist in correcting that and therefore should be engaged?

Happily, Old Mutual is favourably placed in these respects.

There is no one person charged with social responsibility at Old Mutual. Instead there is a well-considered and communicated Corporate Citizenship Transformation Programme that is "owned" by all executives. The measures contained within this Report, and the fact that they extend across multiple business units demonstrates that the full breadth of the programme is beyond the grasp of one division. As to the second point, there is a great deal of consultation with customers, shareholders and other stakeholders within and external to, the company's operations.

The Old Mutual Foundation, for instance, is in constant contact with its social partners in delivering its medium-term strategy. The Foundation emphasises the identification of community needs by the communities themselves. Similarly, the Corporate Affairs division is responsible for "sensing" environmental issues and helping the organisation to craft appropriate responses.

The Environment Committee of the Board that I chair, debates and considers major issues with executive management and assists where possible, their responses. The Committee met five times in 2004.

I am heartened that Old Mutual has embarked on a course that will ensure that its corporate citizenship practices are constantly relevant, worthwhile, and have resonance with society and stakeholders.