UN-ESG

Class Action Targets Nestlé over Labor Reporting

March 20, 2018

Highlighting the potentially high costs of laws requiring public corporate disclosure of human rights and environmental risks, Reuters reports that a Massachusetts resident is seeking to open a class-action lawsuit against Nestlé accusing the company of deceptive practices for failing to disclose instances of child and forced labor in its global supply chain.
Australian Investors Ramp up Support for BHR, Climate Disclosure

March 19, 2018

The Brisbane Times reports that international efforts to advance the business and human rights (BHR) and climate change agendas are paying off in Australia in the form of growing investor support for shareholder resolutions requiring corporate disclosure of environmental, social, and governance issues.
OSCE Guidelines Seek Corporate Supply-Chain Reporting

March 09, 2018

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has issued a set of model guidelines for governments to pressure companies to rid their supply chains of forced labor through such measures as requiring public reporting on their efforts against unethical labor practices and sanctions against businesses that do not comply.
Total Pledges Public Reporting of Extractives Contracts

March 09, 2018

Highlighting the trend of companies in the extractives industry bowing to activist pressure seeking more data to underpin their criticism of lucrative oil, gas, and mining deals, French energy company Total has announced that it will publish details from all its government extractives contracts and has called on all governments to do the same.
Unilever Publishes Palm-Oil Supply Chain

March 08, 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that consumer-goods company Unilever has revealed its entire supply chain relating to palm oil, ratcheting up pressure on other companies with multinational networks to publicly report on their suppliers and efforts to force their business partners to abide by global social and environmental standards.
Activists Seek Blockchain Use in DRC Supply Chains

March 05, 2018

A report from CNBC Africa on the use of blockchain technology to track cobalt from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to its inclusion in batteries in electronics demonstrates the growing pressure on businesses to use the online technology to exclude certain minerals associated with human rights violations, including child labor, from their supply chains.
NGOs Seek Ejection of Energy Companies from EITI Board

February 15, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations have called on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a program pushing oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose their payments to governments, to eject energy companies ExxonMobil and Chevron from the EITI board for not publicly reporting tax payments they made in the US.
GRI Praises Broad EU Corporate Reporting Mandates

February 15, 2018

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) praises EU member states that have gone further than required in implementing the EU's non-financial corporate reporting directive by mandating that all or nearly all companies, regardless of size, issue public reports on their environmental and human rights impacts.
NGOs Issue "Call to Action" on Jewelry Supply Chains

February 14, 2018

A group of human rights activist NGOs has called on companies in the jewelry industry to do more to implement the global business and human rights agenda by employing "robust" due-diligence systems and publicly reporting their efforts to address human rights and environmental impacts in their complex supply chains.
GRI Pushes Small Businesses to Report on "Sustainability"

February 08, 2018

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has issued a press release explaining how its Competitive Business Program trains and coaches small and medium-sized enterprises in a set of developing countries how to publicly disclose their impacts on the global "sustainable development" agenda.