Short Ikea CSR Report

CSR Credo: “IKEA believes that the traditional business objectives and the social and environmental responsibility can work together for the benefit of the many.”

“IKEA CSR activity involves three main areas: children, better living and environmental projects.” -- ikea.com

IKEA’s children initiatives involve safety of their products, education programmes and special programmes for working mothers.

IKEA is supporting the UNICEF in helping about 80,000 affected children to recover from armed conflicts in Angola and Uganda. The project is funded by a marginal increase in the price of the soft toy called PS BRUM. They hope to collect $400,000.00. The coolest part of the project is that it works with a non-formal education that focuses on learning by playing.

Other projects include the prevention of child labour in the manufacturing of IKEA products, protection of children's rights, vaccination projects in Asia and Africa, reconstruction of schools and repair of classrooms in Kosovo.

IKEA mostly works with the UNICEF to support their projects for children.

The ideal of better living is incorporated in IKEA's vision and business idea of improving life for the many. They do believe that the design of their products will help to improve the living standard of the people who need it.

IKEA’s environmental projects are based on the idea revolving around the preservation of the environment. IKEA requires that their wood suppliers manage their woods in a responsible way. An education project of IKEA involves a scholarship for approximately 20 international students who can study forestry in Sweden.

The Sow a Seed project of IKEA started in 1998. This project is aimed at reforestation of Malaysian rain forests with native tree species.

My brief research shows that IKEA mostly works with the WWF to start or to manage their environmental projects.

The free picture of the Ikea Store is from epSos.de. The image can be used for free under the creative commons license. The original photo is on FlickR.com.