REVIEW AND SUPERVISION OF PRACTICES

We recommend that individuals or organisations that have adopted responsible practices in their everyday business are monitored by external bodies that validate and certify such practices. It is this oversight that will provide reliability, especially for medium and long-distance transactions. Short-distance transactions, despite the trust that direct contact brings, will also benefit. Networks of mutual trust are greatly strengthened when there are guarantees from third party entities or individuals that endorse certain practices.

In our opinion, having general reports (not only of good practices) on how the person or organisation carries out its economic activity is also very necessary, and we believe that it will become essential in the medium term. This report should also be validated by an external audit.

Currently there are local and international organizations that have established standards for carrying out self-assessment processes and subsequent ratification by a third party. On an international scale, there is the movement for the Economy for the Common Good, promoted by Christian Felber, which has a network organized in different countries. This movement provides any person or organization with a set of tools to produce a very complete report that can also be audited by professionals or specialized entities. The Common Good Balance Sheet system gives a score that is based on a matrix that reflects the elementary values by which human beings are governed to establish our relationships and which, unfortunately, the predominant economic system does not contemplate: human dignity, solidarity and social justice, environmental sustainability, transparency and co-determination. This exercise makes it possible to assess how these values are put into action along the entire supply chain, right down to the relationship with customers and the environment, which are the points for improvement, and which are worth developing further.