ESG

GRI Develops Global Standard on Reporting Tax Payments

December 19, 2018

As part of the global movement aimed at forcing businesses to pay their “fair share” of taxes to support social and environmental goals, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is launching an international standard to help companies publish, on a country-by-country basis, the taxes they are paying around the world.
ISO Creates Committee on “Sustainable Finance”

December 19, 2018

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently formed an “expert committee” charged with developing a global framework for aligning the world’s financial system with the UN’s comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals.
Activists Criticize Lack of Penalties in Australian Labor Law

December 18, 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that, in November, the Australian Parliament adopted a law requiring large companies and public bodies to disclose annually the steps they are taking to remove forced labor from their global supply chains, eliciting critiques from activists focusing on the lack of financial penalties for non-complying companies.
NGOs Seek Mandatory Baseline for EU “Sustainability” Reporting

December 17, 2018

A coalition of nongovernmental organizations recently produced a statement calling on the European Commission (EC) to amend EU rules on corporate non-financial reporting to create a mandatory, EU-wide baseline of reporting requirements on “sustainability” issues in line with global standards.
NGOs Seek EU Action on Investors’ “Sustainability” Reporting

December 14, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations recently published a letter to the EU Council calling for the body of EU member states to help clarify and expand the duties of investors in Europe to engage in due diligence and reporting of impacts of their funds on the global “sustainability” and climate change agenda.
UBS Plans Social, Environmental Risk Assessments

December 14, 2018

Responding to calls from the movement for “socially responsible” investing, financial giant UBS Global Wealth Management has announced it will begin including environmental, social, and governance assessments in its 2019 reports to help clients gauge the exposure of their investments to risks like climate change.
UN, Banks Publish “Principles for Responsible Banking”

December 13, 2018

The UN Environment Finance Initiative and 28 banks recently launched in Paris a set of Principles for Responsible Banking, a framework under which the banking industry is intended to mainstream the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris climate deal in their operations.
Paper Explores Global Approach to SDG Financing

December 13, 2018

Olaf Weber of the Centre for International Governance Innovation writes that, to provide adequate funding to the fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the banking industry must integrate the SDGs in the operations of its members, supported by SDG-oriented financial regulation by governments around the globe.
Global Bodies Seek to Merge Corporate Reporting Standards

December 07, 2018

In November, the Global Reporting Initiative and other organizations promulgating international corporate reporting standards launched a two-year project seeking to align their standards on “sustainability” reporting to produce consistent policies for businesses to use to report on their social and environmental impacts.
Companies See Rise in Social-Activist Shareholder Resolutions

December 07, 2018

Joe Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that social-activist organizations are increasingly adopting a strategy of buying shareholder status at major companies to force businesses to respond to resolutions pursuing these activists’ social and environmental agendas.