UN-ESG

Activists Criticize Lack of Penalties in Australian Labor Law

December 18, 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that, in November, the Australian Parliament adopted a law requiring large companies and public bodies to disclose annually the steps they are taking to remove forced labor from their global supply chains, eliciting critiques from activists focusing on the lack of financial penalties for non-complying companies.
NGOs Seek Mandatory Baseline for EU “Sustainability” Reporting

December 17, 2018

A coalition of nongovernmental organizations recently produced a statement calling on the European Commission (EC) to amend EU rules on corporate non-financial reporting to create a mandatory, EU-wide baseline of reporting requirements on “sustainability” issues in line with global standards.
NGOs Seek EU Action on Investors’ “Sustainability” Reporting

December 14, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations recently published a letter to the EU Council calling for the body of EU member states to help clarify and expand the duties of investors in Europe to engage in due diligence and reporting of impacts of their funds on the global “sustainability” and climate change agenda.
Global Bodies Seek to Merge Corporate Reporting Standards

December 07, 2018

In November, the Global Reporting Initiative and other organizations promulgating international corporate reporting standards launched a two-year project seeking to align their standards on “sustainability” reporting to produce consistent policies for businesses to use to report on their social and environmental impacts.
NGO Paper Seeks Standardization of Climate Risk Disclosure

December 05, 2018

A report published in September by the Centre for International Governance Innovation offers policy recommendations on how global actors could help standardize international rules for the disclosure of climate-related risks in the financial sector.
Australia Advances Legislation on Forced-Labor Reporting

December 05, 2018

In September, the Australian House of Representatives passed legislation that would require over 3000 businesses in the Australian market to publish annual statements about the risks related to forced labor in their operations and supply chains.
NGO Report Seeks Investor Pressure for Climate Policies

September 26, 2018

The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Harvard’s Initiative on Responsible Investment have produced guidance explaining how investors should accelerate a “just transition” away from greenhouse gas emissions by pushing companies to reduce and report on climate risks in their operations.
NGO Rankings Pressure Pension Funds on Climate Action

September 11, 2018

A nongovernmental initiative called the Asset Owners Disclosure Project has published a ranking of climate action by the world’s largest public pension funds, warning that 60 percent of these funds have “little or no strategy” on how they plan to comply with the global agenda aiming to restrict corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
ISO Publishes Standard for Measure “Carbon Footprint”

August 31, 2018

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a new global standard to enable businesses to quantify, publicly report on, and reduce the level of their greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with the global agenda against climate change.
GRI Pushes for First-Time Corporate “Sustainability” Reporting

August 30, 2018

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) illustrates how the organization, through a “kick-off service” and other modes of consultation, pushes companies around the world to publicly report on a broad array of social and environmental impacts.