The Global Environmental Information Centre (GEIC), a joint project of the United Nations University and the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, updated its database of corporate social contributions in environmental fields, it was announced on May 24, 2006. The database is available in Japanese on the GEIC website.

Together with the Environmental Partnership Office (EPO), its sister organization also founded by the ministry, the GEIC has been creating and publicizing the database since fiscal 2003, based on environmental and/or sustainability reports detailing companies' environmental contributions. The updated database covers about 6,500 environmental activities collected from some 500 reports issued between 2002 and 2005, including 2,133 cases from the fiscal 2005 reports of 361 companies.

The database contains: 1) achievements in partnership and communication related to environmental issues between corporations and a wide range of stakeholders; 2) environmental communication activities with citizens and non-profit organizations (NPOs) working on social contributions, including meetings with stakeholders and third-party institutions; and 3) volunteer activities in local communities and support systems for such activities.

In recent years, company communications with non-profit or non-governmental organizations and local communities have become increasingly important, as corporations are now expected to be more socially responsible. The database is expected to provide basic data to help businesses, NPOs and citizens collaborate, capitalizing on each party's advantages, and shift toward a more sustainable society.