UN-ESG

NGO Paper Seeks G20 Corporate "Due Diligence" Push

August 24, 2017

Representatives of the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights call on the Group of 20 countries (G20) to push for national policies implementing "mandatory human rights due diligence and supply chain reporting" for companies and heightened due diligence mandates for companies operating in countries that do not recognize collective bargaining rights.
Vanguard Pushes for Corporate Climate Reporting

August 23, 2017

Reuters reports that, as part of a broader move within the financial industry toward public disclosure of environmental and social impacts, Vanguard, a US fund company managing $4 trillion in investments, is pushing companies in which it invests to publish climate change risk assessments.
GRI Forum Considers Corporate Reporting Complexity

August 22, 2017

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the World Federation of Exchanges recently engaged at a forum in London with businesses, investors, and stock exchanges regarding concerns over the complexity of overlapping environmental, social, and governmental reporting standards and over the relevance to investors of current corporate reporting on these issues.
ISO Releases Building Energy Efficiency Standards

August 21, 2017

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has announced a new series of standards pushing businesses in the construction industry to increase energy efficiency in buildings around the world to help meet the UN's Paris climate deal pledges to limit global warming.
NGOs Rate Banks on Shift Toward Climate Finance

August 18, 2017

A group of environmental activist organizations has published an analysis scoring banks around the world on the extent to which they have shifted their lending from fossil fuel exploration to clean energy projects, finding across the board that financial institutions have failed to meet their pledges to contribute to the global climate change agenda.
Australian Investors Call for Supply Chain Reporting

August 17, 2017

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has called on the Australian government to pass a bill similar to the UK’s Modern Slavery Act requiring companies to report annually on how they are combating forced labor in their global supply chains.
Investment Adviser Bolsters Climate Risk Analysis

August 17, 2017

CNBC reports that, as the UN and environmental activists target investors to place pressure on companies to mitigate their climate impacts, investor advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has purchased a "climate change data analytics" company to help screen their clients' portfolios for risks related to global warming.
EU Issues Corporate Non-Financial Reporting Guidelines

August 17, 2017

The European Commission has released a set of "voluntary" guidelines for companies to use to incorporate the latest developments from the global social and environmental agenda, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Paris climate accord, as they comply with an EU directive on public reporting of non-financial information.
NGO Pushes Businesses on Labor Rights in Supply Chains

August 17, 2017

A paper from researchers at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre asserts that companies have a "responsibility" to conduct human rights "due diligence" and engage in public reporting of their efforts to advance labor rights for migrant workers in their global supply chains.
EU Proposal Targets Tax Advisers on Profit Shifting

August 16, 2017

Reuters reports that the European Commission has proposed legislation requiring tax advisers to inform EU authorities of their assistance in "potentially aggressive tax planning arrangements" that help companies decrease their tax bills by shifting their profits to jurisdictions, including within the EU, that have lower corporate taxes.