UN-ESG

Australian State Creates Penalty for Failure to File Labor Reports

January 16, 2019

Komala Ramachandra of Human Rights Watch applauds the Australian state of New South Wales for creating an “independent anti-slavery commissioner” and creating financial penalties for companies that fail to comply with an Australian national law requiring companies to file annual reports on their efforts to rid their supply chains of forced labor.
GRI Establishes Corporate Community on “Sustainability” Reporting

January 16, 2019

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has established a GRI Community that will serve as a collaborative network of corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and “sustainability leaders” to support “peer-to-peer learning” among businesses to advance reporting on their efforts to embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in their operations.
EC Sets out Draft Rules on “Sustainable” Investment Advice

January 16, 2019

Earlier this month, the European Commission (EC) published draft rules, which will go into effect upon the EU’s adoption of financial disclosure provisions on social and environmental issues, setting out how financial companies should consider the UN’s “sustainable development” agenda when advising clients on their investments.
Canadian Lawmakers Seek Corporate Labor Reporting Mandate

January 15, 2019

Samantha Beattie reports that Canadian legislators have followed the trend of recent legislation in the UK and Australia by introducing a bill that would require businesses to file annual reports on steps they have taken to rid their global supply chains of forced labor.
EU Council Agrees Position on Financial ESG Reporting

January 11, 2019

The Council of the EU recently agreed to a common position on requiring financial companies to disclose how they are integrating “environmental, social and governance” (ESG) impacts into their investment decisions and creating new benchmarks aimed at producing more information on the “carbon footprint” of investment portfolios.
NGO Rates European Asset Owners on Climate Action

January 08, 2019

The environmental activist organization WWF recently published a report rating European owners of large assets on their efforts to align their portfolios with the goals of the UN’s Paris climate pact, while calling for the creation of “harmonised frameworks” requiring climate disclosure in the investment industry.
ISO Promotes Use of Global Standards to Combat Climate Change

January 08, 2019

At a recent UN summit on climate change in Poland, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) hosted an event at which a group of “sustainability experts” emphasized ISO’s contributions to global standards seeking to “mainstream” efforts by companies and other organizations to combat climate change.
GRI Pushes for BHR-Focused Corporate Reporting

January 03, 2019

In a recent press release, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) described its ongoing efforts, including at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (BHR) in Geneva, to promote “sustainability” reporting as a tool to encourage corporate compliance with global BHR principles and establishment of BHR “due diligence” processes.
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.