UN-ESG

Businesses Resist "Sustainability" Reporting Demands

July 27, 2016

Bloomberg BNA reports that corporations have warned the US Securities and Exchange Commission about the complexity and financial burden involved in accepting demands from advocacy groups to require the inclusion of "sustainability" information among the SEC's corporate annual reporting requirements.
Article Criticizes EU Conflict Minerals Agreement

July 26, 2016

A blog post published by nongovernmental organization Global Witness criticizes legislation agreed by the EU institutions on "conflict minerals" for not going far enough in requiring companies to publicly report their efforts to exclude all such minerals from their products.
Shareholders Ramp up Suits over Environmental Risks

July 20, 2016

Madison Condon of Colombia University writes on a set of recent lawsuits in the US demonstrating that corporate shareholders are increasingly turning to the courts in cases of environmental disasters to claim that corporations did not properly inform them of the risks to the environment involved in their operations.
EU Proposal Expands Disclosure on Corporate Taxes

July 19, 2016

CCH Daily describes proposals from the European Commission that will require companies to disclose to EU member states their "beneficial ownership" of companies that could be used for tax avoidance and that will place pressure on so-called "tax havens" outside the EU to implement global standards on corporate taxation.
GRI Outlines Work on Corporate Tax Disclosure

July 18, 2016

At the recent OECD Forum on Responsible Business Conduct, Teresa Fogelberg of the Global Reporting Initiative discussed her organization's work toward corporate disclosure of tax payments, a key portion of the agenda of international organizations and activists to help "shame" companies into paying for their economic, social, and cultural rights agenda.
Analyst Demands Business Disclosures on Climate

July 15, 2016

At an event organized by the Task Force on Climate Related Disclosures, a group drafting corporate guidelines on publicly reporting the potential impacts of carbon emissions, an energy analyst for Barclays, Mark Lewis, called on fossil fuel companies to warn their investors about the risk of climate-related government regulations to their revenues.
US Issues Rule on Disclosure of Government Payments

July 12, 2016

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a rule, as mandated under the Dodd-Frank financial services reform legislation, requiring companies engaged in oil, gas, and mineral development activities to report the amount of any payments they make to US and foreign governments.
NGOs Seek Wide-ranging HRC Resolution on "Rights Defenders"

July 11, 2016

The nongovernmental organizations International Service for Human Rights and Business and Human Rights Resource Centre have criticized a UN Human Rights Council resolution seeking to assist "human rights defenders" in spotlighting violations of the business and human rights agenda for not going far enough in, for example, requiring corporate reporting on BHR issues.
NGO Calls for Expansive Public Disclosure from AIIB

July 11, 2016

An article from Joshua Rosenzweig of Amnesty International asserts that the new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank should set out a robust disclosure regime to inform the public of the impacts of the projects it finances on the global business and human rights agenda and how it seeks to address these impacts.
Conflict Minerals Amendment Faces NGO Criticism

July 11, 2016

Sasha Lezhnev and Holly Dranginis of the Enough Project criticize an amendment in US financial services appropriations legislation proposing the de-funding of a provision in the Dodd-Frank financial services reform act requiring companies to publicly report their use of "conflict minerals" from war-torn areas of Africa.