ESG

French Officials Propose Audits for Online “Hate Speech” Removal

June 03, 2019

Politico reports that the French government has released a proposal to install regulators who could perform regular audits of social media companies’ removal of “hate speech” from their platforms and to force such businesses to publicize their internal processes for dealing with such content.
NGOs Push for Bolstered Rights Reporting by ASEAN Companies

June 03, 2019

A group of nongovernmental organizations recently published a report finding that human rights reporting by major companies listed on stock exchanges in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “falls substantially short” of UN standards and urges such companies to prepare for a legally binding treaty on business and human rights.
Activists Criticize Microsoft’s Move to “Climate Leadership” Group

May 31, 2019

Environmental activists are criticizing tech giant Microsoft’s decision to join the international policy institute Climate Leadership Council due to the group’s advocacy of business legal immunity for contributions to climate change in exchange for support of a rising tax on carbon emissions.
German Officials Propose Corporate “Due Diligence” Law

May 31, 2019

Lawyers at the global law firm Littler Mendelson examine a proposal from the German government to require German companies to perform “due diligence” in examining the human rights and environmental impacts of their operations and those of businesses in their global supply chains.
Activists Release “Transparency Index” for Fashion Industry

May 31, 2019

The “global movement” Fashion Revolution has published a 2019 Fashion Transparency Index targeting companies it says do not share sufficient information with nongovernmental organizations that wish to scrutinize the human rights and environmental impacts of their supply chains.
ISO Highlights Standards’ Pressure for Climate Action

May 30, 2019

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently published a press release on how two of its standards contribute to the fulfillment of the UN’s Paris climate agenda by seeking to harmonize how businesses and other organizations track and report their reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
EU Lawmakers Pass Rules for “Sustainable” Finance

May 30, 2019

In April, the European Parliament adopted legislation aiming to establish an EU Capital Markets Union that includes disclosure requirements for financial institutions and advisers on “sustainable investments” and thus helps “channel investment to environmentally-friendly projects.”
WHO Forum Puts Pressure on Drug Companies over Pricing

May 30, 2019

At the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Forum on Medicines in April, governments and nongovernmental organizations called for policies forcing pharmaceutical companies to reveal more information about their pricing decisions, while a WHO official referred to drug pricing a human rights issue.
Industry Initiative Seeks “Sustainability” in Chemical Supply Chains

May 30, 2019

The German chemical industry sustainability initiative Chemie³ has published guidance for medium-sized chemical companies on how to ensure their supply chains meet global sustainability standards.
Shell Quits Lobbying Group over Climate Stance

May 30, 2019

CNN reports that energy giant Shell, facing pressure from activists criticizing oil and gas companies for failing to take action on global warming, has quit the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers lobby, which has not publicly supported the UN’s Paris climate deal and opposes taxing fossil fuel emissions.