UN-ESG

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.
NGO Calls for UK Universal Tax Reporting

June 30, 2016

Christian Aid has called on the British Parliament to adopt a law pressuring multinational companies to provide more funding to countries in which they operate by requiring these businesses to report their financial information on a country-by-country basis.
NGO Criticizes EU Mineral Legislation

June 29, 2016

Swedish nongovernmental organization Swedwatch has published a report criticizing the limited reach of new EU legislation on business use of conflict minerals from war-torn areas of Africa and calling for EU member states to enact more far-reaching regulations on the issue.
HKEX Announces New Reporting Provisions

June 28, 2016

Following new "comply or explain" provisions adopted for companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Global Reporting Initiative has released guidance for businesses attempting to navigate an array of complex, global sustainability reporting provisions.
WWF Pressures Companies on "Sustainable Sourcing"

June 23, 2016

Environmental nongovernmental organization WWF has expressed disappointment that consumer goods companies are not using its recommended standards for sourcing their products "sustainably" and calls on companies to report their timely measures on improving their sourcing.
NGOs Push Stronger Governance of Diamond Industry

June 16, 2016

A press release from a coalition of nongovernmental organizations calls on governments and companies in the diamond industry to strengthen legal due diligence and reporting mandates in line with standards from the UN and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to prevent the funding of conflicts through diamond sales.
NGO Warns of Climate Risks in Housing Sector

June 13, 2016

The nongovernmental organization Climate Institute has called on the Australian national, state, and local governments to lead efforts toward publicizing information it says insurers and banks are secretly holding regarding costly risks of climate change to homeowners in the country.
Lundin Petroleum Produces Sustainability Report

June 10, 2016

Swedish oil and gas company Lundin Petroleum has published its first annual Sustainability Report under the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative to demonstrate how it is working to implement the UN's social and environmental agenda.
Activist Seeks State Action on Supply Chain Labor

June 09, 2016

Labor activist Claire Falconer writes that governments relying on a business-centered reporting system on forced work in their supply chains are shirking their duties to protect against labor exploitation and should produce regulations requiring businesses to respond to such problems.
GRI Conference Pushes Human Rights Reporting

June 09, 2016

At its 5th Global Conference, the Global Reporting Initiative hosted a discussion linking the UN's sustainability agenda and corporate human rights reporting standards and agreed to partner with the Danish Institute on Human Rights to push for national action plans on the UN's business and human rights agenda that include human rights and sustainability reporting.