UN-ESG

GRI Pressures Businesses on Anti-Poverty Initiatives

December 21, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has announced a new project, funded by the UK and Swedish governments, to determine how ramped-up business reporting standards can produce data that would help GRI and other stakeholders pressure companies to do more to alleviate poverty in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
NGOs Seek Corporate BHR Reporting Rules in UK

December 15, 2016

A coalition of nongovernmental organizations called CORE has praised the UK government's planned consideration of rules that would require corporations to report on their social and environmental impacts as part of the government's corporate governance consultations, in line with the global business and human rights (BHR) reporting agenda.
NGOs Seek Stronger French BHR Diligence Plan

December 15, 2016

A group of nongovernmental organizations called the European Coalition for Corporate Justice has praised a French bill, passed by the country's National Assembly, requiring corporate "due diligence" to counter business and human rights (BHR) impacts but calls for stronger provisions on remedies for alleged victims of BHR violations.
GRI Launch Events Show Breadth of Reporting Standards

December 14, 2016

Through global launch events on six continents, the Global Reporting Initiative has demonstrated how it expects business leaders around the world to use its "ubiquitous" global standards for "sustainability reporting" to publicly disclose the impacts of their operations on the UN's sustainable development agenda.
France Implements EU Law on Israeli Settlement Products

December 12, 2016

The Independent reports that the French government has become the first in the EU member states to transpose EU regulations into national law requiring that businesses specify on labels of products made in West Bank settlements that they are from an "Israeli settlement" to avoid misleading consumers.
ISO Produces Environmental Technology Standard

December 08, 2016

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) explains how it is seeking to contribute to the UN's "sustainable development" agenda by releasing a global "environmental technology verification" standard to permit climate-friendly technologies to reach new markets.
EU Agrees Regulation on Conflict Minerals Checks

December 05, 2016

EU institutions have agreed to a draft regulation requiring "all but the smallest" European importers of "conflict minerals" from war-torn areas of Africa to perform "due diligence" checks on the source of these minerals and "encouraging" large companies to publicly report on their mineral sourcing practices.
EU Parliament Seeks Bank Information Disclosure

December 05, 2016

The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for EU rules providing for the automatic exchange of bank account owner information by EU member states to prevent tax avoidance in the bloc.
ISO Global Standards Advance UN Climate Agenda

December 01, 2016

In a press release announcing events it planned for the recent UN climate summit in Marrakesh, Morocco, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) describes how its corporate reporting and other standards, including an upcoming global standard on preventing and adapting to climate change, contribute to the UN's sustainable development agenda.
Banker Pushes for Global Corporate Tax Reporting

November 29, 2016

Arguing that few multinational companies consider the societal need for them to pay "a fair amount of tax," Sasja Beslik of the financial services group Nordea writes that the only practical way for governments to promote corporate tax transparency is to force businesses to disclose their revenues and tax payments in every jurisdiction in which they operate.