UN-ESG

GRI Forms Network to Push SDGs

February 19, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has announced a GOLD Community to gather businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and intergovernmental agencies that wish to further the UN's Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") through GRI's reporting techniques.
GRI Plans Next Phase in "Sustainability" Reporting

February 19, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has published an article describing the influence it has had in encouraging companies to report on social and environmental "sustainability" and calls for a future where companies draw information from such reports "into the heart of operations."
NGOs Push Correlation Between ESG, Profitability

February 10, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative reports that a study released by Deutsche Asset Management and the University of Hamburg tends to show that corporate profitability and a focus on environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") principles are aligned, seeking to make the case that businesses must bend to investor and activist demands for more ESG-related reporting.
GRI Sets out Five-year "Sustainable Development Strategy"

February 10, 2016

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has announced that it is building a five-year strategy for the advancement of corporate reporting on the implementation of the UN's agenda on "sustainable development" in business operations and on the use of data from this reporting to place more pressure on businesses to fulfill the UN's environmental and social goals.
GRI Emphasizes Role in Pushing SDGs in Business

February 10, 2016

In the context of the launch of the Global Commission on Business and Sustainable Development, an initiative of businesses, labor, and activists, at the recent World Economic Forum, the Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") is highlighting how it has contributed to business recognition and implementation of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs").
NGO Publishes "Toolbox" for BHR Impact Assessments

February 05, 2016

The Danish Institute for Human Rights has published guidance for businesses to develop "impact assessments" considering how their operations might fuel violations of the UN's business and human rights ("BHR") agenda and for human rights activists to monitor the outcomes of these assessments.
NGO Criticizes Draft EU Mineral Sourcing Law

February 04, 2016

The nongovernmental organization Global Witness has warned that the voluntary, limited nature of a proposal from EU member states seeking to regulate corporate sourcing of minerals from war-torn areas of Africa, to be negotiated by EU officials in Strasbourg in February, will fail "to reduce global conflict."
PR Professionals Show Complexity of BHR "Imperatives"

February 03, 2016

Arguing that the bar for corporate compliance with the business and human rights ("BHR") agenda "is higher than ever," Lisa Manley and Judy Sandford of public relations company Cone Communications call on companies to take into account UN and activist initiatives ranging from reporting standards to climate action in plotting out their future BHR strategies.
Attorney Downplays BHR "Soft" vs. "Hard" Law Distinction

February 03, 2016

In a recent article, Anne Vanhala of Castrén & Snellman describes the status of national and supranational legislation imposing business and human rights ("BHR") reporting obligations on companies and concludes that whether or not there is a "hard law" requirement in each country, businesses "cannot opt out of human rights."
UN Agency Pushes Corporate Gender Diversity Reporting

February 02, 2016

Ten major companies have reported figures on the ratio of men to women in their workforce and in their leadership positions for inclusion in a "HeForShe Parity Report" published by UN Women.