UN-ESG

UN Body Requires Climate Reporting from Investors

March 01, 2019

The UN Principles for Responsible Investment, a body that pushes investors to abide by a set of ethical principles, has announced it will require investors who are signatories to report beginning in 2020 on how they are considering the risks of climate change in their portfolios.
NGOs Push for Gender Reporting in Extractives Industry

February 22, 2019

The nongovernmental coalition Publish What You Pay has called on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a transparency standard for governments and the oil, gas, and mining industry, to require more information on gender disparities in extractives reporting.
UK Lawmakers Seek Tax Incentives for “Sustainable” Fashion

February 22, 2019

The UK House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee has published a report calling on the British government to introduce tax penalties on fashion companies that fail to address the environmental impacts of their products, among several other social and environmental priorities.
Oxfam Assesses Rights Impacts in Finnish Food Supply Chain

February 22, 2019

Finnish procurement company SOK Corporation recently commissioned nongovernmental organization Oxfam to perform a pilot “human rights impact assessment” of its Italian tomato supply chain as part of a broader response to NGO pressure in which businesses show they are performing “due diligence” in complying with the business and human rights agenda.
Report Seeks Investor Pressure for Australian Labor Reporting

February 22, 2019

The pension-fund adviser Australian Council for Superannuation Investors has called on investors to put pressure on Australian companies from a broad range of sectors to fully comply with a new law requiring them to report on their efforts to end forced labor in their global supply chains.
Securities Commission Group Promotes ESG Reporting

February 21, 2019

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has applauded the International Organization of Securities Commissions for issuing a report promoting the disclosure by securities issuers of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts of financial assets to investors.
Review Shows Growing Activist Pressure on Corporate Governance

February 20, 2019

Lawyer Samantha Sarkozi cites a global study from shareholder services firm Kingsdale Advisors to argue that investors and shareholders are responding to pressure from activists and multilateral organizations pushing them to consider environmental and social issues in their investment decisions.
NGO Seeks “Exhaustive” Corporate Vigilance Plans in France

February 14, 2019

The human rights activist group Sherpa has published a reference guide for companies and “stakeholders” calling on companies to respond to a new “duty of vigilance” imposed by French law with “exhaustive and sincere vigilance plans” explaining how they will address their negative social and environmental impacts.
GRI Calls for Improved Corporate Environmental Reporting

February 14, 2019

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has released a discussion paper calling for companies to interact with investors and others to improve their reporting on efforts to address water use and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations.
NGO Project: EU Companies Fail to Report “Meaningful” Data

February 13, 2019

The Alliance for Corporate Transparency has published a report finding that European companies are largely failing to disclose “meaningful” social and environmental information in compliance with the EU Non-financial Reporting Directive, including by failing to describe their “human rights due diligence system.”