UN-ESG

EU Report Proposes Measures for "Sustainable" Investments

February 07, 2018

A report from the European Commission's High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance proposes EU measures for encouraging investments from the financial system to fulfill the UN's "sustainable development" agenda, including through EU standards for such "sustainable" investments and investor disclosures on how sustainability factors into their decision-making.
WEF Touts Meeting's "Sustainability" Certification

February 06, 2018

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has announced that it received certification from an independent certification body for compliance with the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) standard for "sustainable event management" at its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
Joint Initiative Sets out Eco-Industrial Park Standards

February 02, 2018

The World Bank Group, the UN Industrial Development Organization, and a German development advisory company have launched a joint international framework setting out minimum environmental, social, and economic standards for the recognition of "eco-industrial parks," which seek to increase industrial efficiency while advancing the global environmental agenda.
NGO Pushes WEF to Seek "Justice" for Corporate Conduct

January 29, 2018

The nongovernmental organization Greenpeace has marked the beginning of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, by releasing a report accusing various global companies of environmental destruction and human rights abuses and calling on world leaders to prevent these harms by imposing mandatory reporting and other policies on businesses.
NGO Pushes Mandatory Climate Reporting in Sweden

January 29, 2018

A report from the nongovernmental organization Swedwatch warns Swedish fund managers that they are failing to invest enough in climate-friendly projects to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord and calls on the Swedish government to introduce a law requiring finance actors to publicly disclose their efforts toward a greener portfolio.
GRI Series Targets "Sustainability" Reporting in Food Industry

January 24, 2018

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and a group of civil society and academic partners have launched a Materiality Roundtable Series to guide businesses and investors on how to properly report and evaluate their impacts on "sustainable development" in the food and agriculture sectors.
GRI Establishes Review Service for Corporate Disclosures

January 17, 2018

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has launched a Disclosure Review Service through which it will evaluate corporate reports produced using GRI's Sustainability Reporting Standards to ensure they contain information helpful to readers in determining whether these companies are contributing to the global "sustainable development" agenda.
GRI Calls for Companies to Report on Poverty Alleviation

January 17, 2018

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published a paper containing recommendations on how businesses should include information regarding their efforts to alleviate poverty in public reports on their contributions to the "sustainable development" agenda.
Australian Companies Face Legislative Push for Labor Reporting

January 16, 2018

An article in The Sydney Morning Herald highlights the concerns from some retail businesses regarding the scope of and penalties contained in a proposal for an Australian law that would require large companies to publicly report their efforts to rid their global supply chains of forced labor.
EU Committee Calls for Permanent Panel on Tax Evasion

January 08, 2018

Joe Kirwin reports that the European Parliament's investigative committee on the Panama Papers has called for the creation of a permanent panel to probe alleged tax evasion by multinational companies and the adoption of regulations and mandatory public reporting to prevent banks and accounting firms from helping businesses escape taxes within the EU.