Corporates say why they join BCCS, a journey of sustainable practice

Thursday, 11 October 2018 01:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Companies that compete in the annual Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability (BCCS) Award conducted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce believe that it serves a greater purpose beyond the accolade itself, acting as a measure of their year-on-year progress, as well a performance evaluation alongside peers in their respective industries.

Access Engineering PLC, the winner of several BCCS Category Awards and one of the Top 10 winners in last year’s Awards, gained their first recognition in 2013. “Our approach to sustainability has been widely influenced since then, from planning, to execution to project monitoring and handing over,” the corporate said.

Aitken Spence PLC said that it uses the BCCA awards process to assess performance on sustainability priorities on a wider platform. “We have applied when we had achieved significant progress; we continued to apply when the progress was not that evident but our management systems were maintained right throughout which is a more subtle achievement for our teams to achieve long term sustainability,” was the feedback provided by Aitken Spence PLC, a Top 10 BCCS Winner for a record of 12 consecutive years.

Nestlé held a similar view, and said that they have upheld the everyday commitment of improving sustainability, making progress as they continue in their BCCS journey. This year’s BCCS Award will have a special award for consistent commitment and demonstrated improvement to recognise corporates who show commitment to improving sustainable practice.

These Awards are not only for large corporates, but also recognise smaller enterprises in a separate award category. The two categories are distinguished by the annual turnover, those companies with a turnover above Rs. 15 billion are judged in one category, and those below are judged in a separate category. Therefore BCCS Award is a holistic competition, encouraging the noble efforts of the private/public sector to interact responsibly with its stakeholders.

The annual BCCS Award recognises the importance of Corporate Sustainability in Sri Lanka and encourages businesses to adopt best practices in line with achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Continuing its efforts to take sustainability to grassroots level, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce encourages business enterprises to apply for ‘Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2018’, and ‘Best Projects Sustainability Awards 2018’ and join a journey of sustainable practice.

Applications each year are evaluated by Sri Lanka’s best thought leaders of sustainability, and the sustainability title awarded by the country’s apex business chamber is an accolade worth competing for. If your organisation wishes to join this sustainability journey and apply for the BCCS Awards, please contact Whitney 0115588850 or Oshadhi 0115588851/or email [email protected]. Applications for this year’s awards should be submitted to the Chamber on or before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 12 October. The award ceremony will take place on 26 November.