UN-ESG

EU Considers Deterring "Aggressive" Tax Advice

November 28, 2016

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on measures to deter tax advisers in the EU from proposing tax planning schemes to help corporations and others avoid taxes, including by implementing at the EU level a "mandatory disclosure scheme" for tax advice that might be viewed as overly "aggressive."
IEA Calls for Use of Global Energy Efficiency Standards

November 16, 2016

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published an interview with Brian Motherway, head of energy efficiency at the International Energy Agency, praising the use of global standards in regulating how businesses and investors reduce energy consumption in their operations.
Google Implements ISO "Sustainability" Standards

November 16, 2016

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published an article from a Google "sustainability" officer describing how the internet giant has used global environmental and social standards to reduce its environmental impacts and has received a certificate of recognition for implementing ISO guidelines on "energy management."
NGO Calls for Reporting on IFC Development Projects

November 11, 2016

In line with efforts to impose public reporting requirements on companies under the global business and human rights agenda, the nongovernmental organization Inclusive Development International is releasing a series of papers calling for bolstered reporting requirements for development projects funded by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.
Professor Calls for Reporting Mandates in BHR Treaty

November 10, 2016

Following the conclusion of the second session of the Working Group charged with developing a binding UN business and human rights treaty, Professor Erika George of the University of Utah College of Law writes that a key component of such a treaty must be the global harmonization of corporate BHR reporting standards.
UN Agency Imposes Climate Standards on Shipping

November 10, 2016

The UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted mandatory standards for the shipping industry to monitor greenhouse gas emissions and has committed to a 2023 "road map" for the development of a "comprehensive IMO strategy on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships."
OSCE Hosts Conference on Extractive Disclosure

November 09, 2016

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has announced its support of the global "sustainable development" agenda by sponsoring a conference of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an organization that pushes extractive businesses to disclose the payments they make to governments, in Kazakhstan.
NGO: Japanese Companies Fail to Disclose Impacts

November 04, 2016

The nongovernmental organization Rainforest Action Network has issued a report accusing ten major Japanese companies of failing to properly report the social and environmental impacts of their operations and those of their supply chains relating to tropical deforestation.
Report Reviews Corporate Liability on Forced Labor

November 01, 2016

The Institute for Human Rights and Business and the law firm Hogan Lovells have partnered to produce an overview of legislation in eight jurisdictions subjecting corporations to liability for contributing to forced labor or failing to report their efforts to end it in their own operations or in their complex, global supply chains.
Academic Details French BHR Reporting Efforts

October 31, 2016

At a conference on business and human rights in Seville, Spain, Dr. Nadia Bernaz of the Middlesex University School of Law describes evolving efforts by French politicians to impose requirements on businesses in the country to report their efforts to reduce their human rights and environmental impacts in line with the global BHR agenda.