ESG

Chinese Government Promotes Green Financing

August 31, 2017

The Chinese government is seeking to expand the country’s "green finance" sector in order to pursue “sustainable growth" and fulfill commitments the country made to limit its greenhouse gas emissions under the UN's 2015 Paris climate deal.
UK Eyes Expansion of Corporate Reporting Law

August 31, 2017

Helena Milner-Smith and Hannah Edmonds of the law firm Covington & Burling have published an update on UK legislation that would expand the mandatory provisions of a law requiring British companies to publicly report on their efforts to eliminate forced labor in their global supply chains, and exclude companies that fail to comply from public procurement processes.
Governments Pressure Companies to Contribute to SDGs

August 31, 2017

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative on the proceedings of the UN High-Level Political Forum on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlights how countries reporting their SDG progress to the UN are increasingly lookin to the private sector, through corporate reporting and other methods, to contribute to their efforts.
Telecom Company Agrees to Implement SDGs

August 30, 2017

As part of the UN's partnership with a broad range of the private sector on the achievement of its comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom has signed a memorandum of understanding committing to working with UN Environment to incorporate various environmental SDG targets into its operations.
Companies Support Australian Reporting Mandate

August 30, 2017

In submissions to a joint committee in Australia exploring the establishment of a corporate reporting regime on forced labor in global supply chains, companies and business groups expressed their broad support for mandatory reporting, and in some cases for a "due diligence" law, but warned against measures that are "overly prescriptive" and costly.
GRI Promotes "Sustainability" Reporting in India

August 29, 2017

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) outlines the recent activities of its regional hub in South Asia promoting public reporting by Indian companies on corporate social responsibility efforts and contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals using GRI's global standards on "sustainability" reporting.
EU Body Calls for Policies for "Sustainable Finance"

August 25, 2017

The EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance has released a report calling for the EU to push the bloc's finance industry toward expanding its contribution to the global "sustainable development" agenda and to force finance leaders to consider environmental, social, and governance factors in their long-term strategic thinking.
GRI Touts Findings on Corporate Reporting Framework

August 24, 2017

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) celebrates a finding of the consulting firm Governance and Accountability Institute that companies using GRI's global sustainability reporting guidelines provide better public disclosures of their social and environmental impacts than those that do not use GRI's framework.
NGO Paper Seeks G20 Corporate "Due Diligence" Push

August 24, 2017

Representatives of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights call on the Group of 20 countries (G20) to push for national policies implementing "mandatory human rights due diligence and supply chain reporting" for companies and heightened due diligence mandates for companies operating in countries that do not recognize collective bargaining rights.
Vanguard Pushes for Corporate Climate Reporting

August 23, 2017

Reuters reports that, as part of a broader move within the financial industry toward public disclosure of environmental and social impacts, Vanguard, a US fund company managing $4 trillion in investments, is pushing companies in which it invests to publish climate change risk assessments.