ESG

Lawyer Seeks Investor Pressure on Labor Rights

September 22, 2017

Dr. Fiona David of the Walk Free Foundation writes that, in order to ensure compliance with proliferating laws requiring reporting and "due diligence" on forced labor, investors must demand that companies in which they invest put in place policies aimed at ensuring respect for labor rights in their operations and supply chains.
UN, Tech Leaders Push for Innovative SDG Approach

September 21, 2017

The UN hosted a dialogue in which government officials and representatives from major tech companies stressed the need to harness technological innovation in pursuit of the UN's comprehensive social and environmental targets contained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
New Zealand Directors' Manual Pushes BHR Agenda

September 21, 2017

Rob Stock writes that, in its recently published Four Pillars of Governance Best Practice, New Zealand's Institute of Directors include a chapter on how companies must implement the global business and human rights (BHR) agenda by, among other things, addressing and reporting on BHR risks in their operations and supply chains.
NGOs: Lower Legal Barriers to BHR Remedies

September 21, 2017

A report from Amnesty International and the Business & Human Rights (BHR) Resource Centre examines recent legislative initiatives seeking to lower barriers to remedies for alleged victims of BHR violations and calls for further reforms to enhance access to remedy, including permitting corporate liability for subsidiary conduct and expanding corporate disclosure requirements.
Trade Associations Promote "Sustainability" Agenda

September 19, 2017

In an op-ed, representatives from the UN-coordinated International Trade Centre and the Foreign Trade Association present initiatives from their organizations, including a "business social compliance initiative" and "trade for sustainable development" programme, seeking to persuade governments and businesses to adopt the "sustainability" agenda in their foreign trade practices.
UK Considers Reporting Measures on Executive Pay

September 18, 2017

Money Marketing reports that the UK government is set to propose rules requiring publicly listed companies to publish a ratio comparing the pay of their chief executive officer to the salary of their average staff member and establishing a register listing companies in which one-fifth of shareholders opposed the current level of executive pay.
OECD Publishes Reviews on Global Tax Cooperation

September 18, 2017

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the first set of "peer reviews" in which governments rated each other on their compliance with the OECD's global standards providing for the automatic exchange of corporate tax and other financial information to combat tax avoidance.
Australia Pitches Corporate Labor Reporting Law

September 01, 2017

The Age reports that the Australian government is preparing legislation that will request that large businesses release annual "Modern Slavery Statements," to be placed in a publicly accessible database, explaining efforts they are taking to eliminate forced labor across their global supply chains.
Report Pushes Energy Industry Action on All SDGs

August 31, 2017

An "atlas" from the World Bank Group, UN Development Programme, and an international industry association describes how the oil and gas industry can mitigate its social and environmental harms while simultaneously contributing toward all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Exxon Study Shows Danger of Climate Reporting

August 31, 2017

A study by Harvard University’s Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes highlights the pitfalls for companies of mandated public disclosure rules on social and environmental issues, asserting that ExxonMobil misled the public on climate change by publicly challenging climate science that it privately accepted as true.