ESG

Businesses Seek UN Approval of Climate Targets

June 26, 2018

A press release on the UN's climate website spotlights the decision by 103 corporations to subject their reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions to "official validation" by the joint UN- and nongovernmental organization-led Science Based Targets Initiative, as a growing number of businesses embed the goals of the UN's Paris climate accord in their operations.
NGO Seeks Government Oversight on Minerals Sourcing

June 25, 2018

Juliane Kippenberg of Human Rights Watch writes that a recent summit discussing the implementation of OECD guidelines on minerals sourcing was an important opportunity to place pressure on governments to monitor business implementation of the guidelines to ensure companies are refraining from funding rights violations in their global supply chains.
HSBC Announces Divestment from Coal, Oil Projects

June 25, 2018

Reuters reports that the largest bank in Europe, HSBC, has announced plans to end its funding for most coal power plants, oil sands, and arctic drilling in an effort to help fulfill the 2015 UN Paris climate accord.
UK Parliament Body Reviews Rights Issues in Sports

June 07, 2018

The UK's All Party Parliamentary Group on Sport, Modern Slavery and Human Rights is calling for submissions from sports bodies, nongovernmental organizations, athletes, and others to be included in its investigation of "pressing human rights problems affecting large scale sporting events around the world."
GRI Partners with Forum on Child Rights Reporting

June 06, 2018

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has signed an agreement with the Global Child Forum, through which stakeholders explore how best to fulfill the UN Children's Rights Convention, to cooperate on "driving corporate action to improve the lives of children" through GRI's corporate reporting framework on "sustainability" issues.
UN Report Reviews Response to "Sustainable Finance" Agenda

June 05, 2018

The final report of UN Environment's "Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System" examines how financial institutions and regulatory bodies are responding to pressure from governments, activists, and international organizations by reforming their structures to divert "desperately needed" funding toward the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
NGO Seeks Larger State Role in Minerals Due Diligence

June 01, 2018

Human Rights Watch has called for a more robust government role across the globe in forcing companies to comply with guidance from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on how to perform "due diligence" to address potential human rights abuses in their minerals supply chains.
Massachusetts Court Permits Demand for Exxon Records

May 31, 2018

Illustrating the progression of a set of US state investigations against energy companies over global warming, Reuters reports that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recently ruled that the state's Attorney General has jurisdiction to demand private records from Exxon to determine whether the company misled consumers regarding the risks of climate change.
NGO Seeks ABA Support of Corporate Transparency Law

May 21, 2018

Amol Mehra of the nongovernmental organization International Corporate Accountability Roundtable calls on the American Bar Association (ABA) to withdraw its opposition to a bill in the US Congress that would require companies to disclose their ownership to the government to facilitate law-enforcement investigations aimed at enforcing US money-laundering laws.
UK Presses Companies to Report Gender Pay Gap

May 21, 2018

The Guardian reports that the UK government has threatened action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission for companies that fail to report any sex-based disparities in their pay policies by a recent deadline, as the UK ramps up pressure on companies using corporate reporting mandates to accomplish the social goal of "creating fairer and more equal workplaces."