Surveillance Capitalism

Airports Seek Certification for Climate Action

July 26, 2017

Travel Daily News reports that the Airport Carbon Accreditation program is reporting a growing number of airports around the world obtaining certification under its initiative by monitoring and addressing their greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the global agenda on combating climate change.
IOI Bends to NGO "Due Diligence" Pressure

July 24, 2017

Activist organization Greenpeace demonstrates the power of nongovernmental organizations to force the hand of companies to perform "due diligence" of their environmental and human rights impacts by touting its influence on palm oil trader the IOI Group's decision to investigate such impacts and advising IOI supply chain partners to monitor the company's progress.
Article: Counsel Must Play Role in "Corporate Citizenship"

July 21, 2017

An article from former General Electric Vice President and General Counsel Ben Heineman paints a broad picture of the need for general counsel to steer their corporations toward a concept of "corporate citizenship" resembling the "environmental, social, and governance" responsibilities recommended for businesses by UN agencies and activist groups.
UN Report Calls for Transformation in Global Finance

July 21, 2017

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a report on green finance which calls for the transformation of the global financial system to push increasing amounts of capital into “green” investments that align with the UN’s sustainability agenda.
Business Leader: G20 Should Set Collective Climate Regulations

July 19, 2017

BASF’s Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Business-20 (B20) Taskforce on Energy, Climate & Resource Efficiency, argues that the Group of 20 (G20) nations must set collective climate policies to avoid creating competitive disadvantages for businesses.
Report Calls for “Due Diligence” in Natural Resource Extraction

July 19, 2017

Dr. Carolijn Terwindt and Christian Schliemann call for companies and governments to implement “due diligence” policies when funding natural resource extraction projects to and consider cutting their finance of such projects in cases of "repression" or "stigmatization" of human rights defenders.
Human Rights Leaders Call for “Transformative” Policy Changes

July 19, 2017

Speakers at a recent event on human rights and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) hosted by the Danish Institute for Human Rights called for the public and private sectors to incorporate human rights goals into their policies, including through corporate human rights impact assessments, “to unleash the transformative potential of the 2030 Agenda.”
EU Companies Make Pledge Against Coal Plants

July 18, 2017

As businesses face pressure to help fulfill their country's ambitious commitments to limit global warming under the Paris climate pact agreed in 2015, national energy companies from across the EU have signed an agreement not to build any new coal power plants after the year 2020.
ISO Pushes for Global Standards to Achieve SDGs

July 18, 2017

Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) asserts that global standards created by ISO and other groups to harmonize the international regulation of business are necessary to achieve the UN's comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
EU Creates Committee to Encourage "Green" Securities

July 14, 2017

The EU has established a Green Securities Steering Committee to promote the nascent market for “green debt” in Europe by establishing standards, setting favorable regulations, and encouraging supply and demand for environmentally friendly investments to help reach "EU climate objectives and green infrastructure goals."