Page 67 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

Although these international frameworks did not directly impose obligations on multinational
corporations, they served as early indicators of regulatory change. As a result, both corporate

governance and CSR gained increasing recognition as essential components of responsible
business practice.

As the world entered the new millennium in 2000, the United Nations launched the UN Global
Compact in partnership with 44 multinational corporations, two labor organizations, 12 civil
society networks, and six business associations. Together, they introduced a set of Ten Principles
providing guidance for responsible business practices across four key areas: human rights, labor
standards, environmental protection, and anti-corruption. These principles were intended to
serve as a strategic framework for shaping corporate governance and ethical business conduct.

While the UN did not explicitly refer to the initiative as CSR, the principles reflected the
international community’s expectations for socially responsible enterprises.

Also in 2000, the UN announced the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of baseline
development targets aimed at guiding support from developed countries to the Global South.
When the MDGs concluded in 2015, they were succeeded by the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), which expanded the global agenda. In contrast to the post–World War II emphasis on
peace and human rights, the SDGs incorporated the value of environmental stewardship and
called for a unified global commitment to sustainable development.

In parallel, the European Union (EU), which had long supported cooperatives and nonprofit

organizations as mechanisms for localized employment and welfare, began to respond more
actively to environmental concerns linked to economic growth. From 2001 to 2004, member
states such as Belgium, Finland, and Italy convened a series of meetings that culminated in the
launch of the EU Strategy on CSR in 2011. Around the same time, ISO 26000 was introduced as
an international standard on social responsibility, developed through the participation of 450
experts from 80 countries.

In 2023, findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that
global warming has led to increasingly severe natural disasters. In response, many countries,

particularly those in the European Union, began introducing cross-border tax measures aimed at
mitigating the climate crisis. These new regulations have prompted significant adjustments within
the private sector, especially among internationally active companies, which are now placing
greater emphasis on shared value for all stakeholders and incorporating CSR into their core
strategic frameworks.

In essence, the progression from civic-minded giving to the emergence of social enterprise stems
from a common root: humanity’s innate sense of public responsibility, nurtured over generations
by religious teachings. From this shared foundation, two parallel streams have taken shape. One

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