Seasoned business leader Anisuzzaman Chowdhury serves as chairman of Navana Pharmaceuticals, Anowara Construction Ltd and Gas one, having amassed a significant portfolio of companies spanning multiple industries. This article will look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its evolution from a fringe concept to a strategic necessity for businesses of all types and sizes in 2026.
CSR centres around the four tenets of environmental, ethical, economic and philanthropic responsibility. Around the world today, it is implemented with varying levels of public disclosure. CSR is a business model where organisations integrate social, environmental and ethical concerns into their daily activities. CSR enables companies to move beyond short-term profit generation to help address broader societal goals such as ethical practices, sustainability and community development.
Environmental responsibility centres around adopting sustainable practices to minimise negative ecological impacts. Ethical responsibility requires equitable and transparent treatment of all stakeholders, including everyone from customers and employees to the wider community. Economic responsibility requires an equitable balance between profit generation and positive societal impact. Finally, philanthropic responsibility places an emphasis on contributing to societal improvement through community engagement and charitable activities.
In an article published by New York Times Magazine in 1970, Milton Friedman cited the social responsibility of a business as purely to increase its profits, suggesting that any broader notion of CSR was a kind of theft from shareholders and others. Nevertheless, given that climate change and other global threats stem from corporate activities to a considerable degree, governments around the world have introduced incentives and policies to encourage companies to adopt CSR activities. The attached video looks at UK government legislation requiring companies to allocate a portion of earnings for CSR.
In US jurisdictions like California, climate disclosure requirements are being enhanced by new laws. Meanwhile, the EU is moving forward with frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Effective. Set to come into effect in 2026, the legislation creates a mixed global governance environment featuring diverging standards for multinational organisations to follow. The embedded infographic contains some interesting global statistics on CSR.
CSR not only contributes to the betterment of society but also benefits the company itself in a variety of different ways. CSR fosters customer loyalty and employee satisfaction, as well as improving brand reputation. In addition, it also helps to ensure long-term business sustainability. With problems such as climate change and various other societal issues affecting corporations as much as individuals, forward-looking businesses recognise the importance of addressing these problems to ensure their long-term survival.