Corporate Social Responsibility is now at the forefront of the strategies of the world’s largest brands. According to a recent study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, communicators are now trying to prove the return on investment of their sustainability programmes.

The study asked 1400 senior executives about their programmes, and found that the majority of them (61%) applied valuation methods to them, signifying an increased effort to measure investment return.

CSR now occupies a department in the vast majority of large businesses. It is also now taught as part of business studies, such as the Masters in Sustainability and Responsibility course taught at Ashridge Business School. Chris Nichols, the programme director says of CSR’s growing relevancy: “the world has never faced a population rise as we have now, with the desire for western lifestyles and the resource crunch that brings with it.”

Another study led by The University of California set out to prove that companies who adopted voluntary disclosure of their greenhouse gas emissions, provided a net benefit for shareholders. The study ultimately found that with the right balance in terms of disclosure information, a company received a boost in their market value. Also, small companies who rely on voluntary disclosure also benefited.