Source: AFP

The global economic crisis, with its wave of corporate bankruptcies, could be an opportunity to give capitalism a more human, socially responsible face, experts told a conference.

"It's time to think about different, new business models," one of the speakers, Birgit Forstnig-Errath of the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), told the two-day conference at the University of Vienna, entitled "Corporate Social Responsibility, Decent Work and Human Rights".

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has gained ground in recent years, particularly after the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002.

It calls on companies to conduct business responsibly in compliance with international labour and social standards as well as with human rights.

Environmental protection is also a key principle, as well as dialogue between companies and unions and civil society.

Its supporters say it offers a viable alternative to current business practices.

But business leaders themselves tend to view CSR as costly, saying it is inevitable that principles get put on the back burner in times of economic crisis and falling profits.

"Your human rights compliance activities can be a lot more generous in circumstances of 140 dollars per barrel of oil than it is under circumstances of 60 dollars a barrel," said Patrick Doris, a London-based lawyer who specialises in European, public international and human rights law.

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