UN-ESG

NGOs Call for Reporting to End Corporate Tax Avoidance

September 30, 2015

The C20 Turkey, an alliance representing nongovernmental organizations throughout the G20 group of countries, has called for the G20 to commit to ensuring that corporate income is taxed where business activities take place and to promote public, country-by-country corporate reporting of all taxable income.
GRI Tracks Progress on Corporate Sustainability Reporting

September 30, 2015

Following the UN General Assembly's adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), the Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has introduced a tool that it says will help governments track the progress of companies in fulfilling a "target" of the SDGs that calls for corporate reporting on efforts toward "sustainability."
Paper Documents Market Responses to EU Disclosure Directive

September 22, 2015

A recent academic article on the market effects of an EU directive mandating the disclosure by companies of certain social and environmental information documents the negative market reactions to the directive among investors in companies with currently low disclosure levels and companies with weak nonfinancial performance.
UN Calls for Finance Regulators to Aid "Sustainability" Agenda

September 16, 2015

Prior to the expected adoption of the UN's proposed Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), the UN Environment Programme has produced a study urging national financial regulators to adopt "policy tools," including regulations for "sustainable" investment and disclosure obligations, that advance the implementation of the SDGs in the global financial sector.
Lawyer: Due Diligence Is Path to Corporate Responsibility

September 16, 2015

An article by Marie Wilke of WTI Advisors explores the world of multiplying, complex laws and standards under which companies make due diligence efforts to ensure that their supply chains are "responsible" and identifies such due diligence as the best path to countering social and environmental harm by businesses.
NGO Pushes for Climate Disclosure by Food Companies

September 16, 2015

Frances Way of environmental data-collecting organization CDP has called for food, beverage, and tobacco corporations to publicly disclose how much their operations and the operations of producers in their supply chains add to worldwide greenhouse gas emissions and thus contribute to warming the planet.
GRI Program Trains Businesses on Reporting

September 16, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") describes how it pushes companies to begin reporting on their implementation of international activists' "sustainability" agenda through its "Business Transparency Program."
GRI Places Pressure on Companies over Development Goals

September 16, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has called on businesses to use its reporting mechanisms in order to advance the implementation of the UN's recently proposed Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), set to be adopted in September, and has announced that it will track corporate progress on achieving the SDGs.
NGO Praises "Sustainability" Focus of Asian Stock Exchanges

September 15, 2015

Teresa Fogelberg of the Global Reporting Initiative applauds Asian stock exchanges for issuing guidance that pressures companies involved in these exchanges to report on their implementation of the global environmental and social agenda.
Disclosure Rules Present Problems for Business

September 09, 2015

The New York Times reports that US rules requiring corporate disclosure of the use of "conflict minerals" from war-torn areas of Africa increasingly force businesses to navigate complex supply chains and seek help from lawyers, consultants, and others who can guide them through the disclosure process.