Business & Human Rights

HRW Criticizes Draft World Bank Framework

October 16, 2015

As pressure rises for banks and international finance institutions to implement business and human rights principles, Human Rights Watch ("HRW") has criticized the second draft of the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework for failing to sufficiently provide for the protection of human rights.
NGO Criticizes Limited Reach of OECD Tax Proposal

October 15, 2015

The nongovernmental organization Tax Justice Network has criticized the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") for failing, in its recent corporate tax information sharing proposal, to require country-by-country reporting and to treat parent and subsidiary companies as part of a single entity.
UN, Activists Seek Leverage for Corporate Support of SDGs

October 15, 2015

An article on the website Devex Impact lists several "tools" the UN and nongovernmental organizations are using to place pressure on businesses to provide financial and other support to the UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), including the UN's "SDG Compass" and stock-exchange standards.
Food Companies Face Lawsuits over Supply Chains

October 15, 2015

Highlighting the complexity inherent in requiring corporate disclosure of supply-chain activity, a set of class-action lawsuits against chocolate companies Mars, Nestle, and Hershey allege these companies violated a California law requiring that they disclose the use of child labor in their supply chains.
Japan Pension Fund Signs on to UN ESG Principles

October 14, 2015

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund has announced that it has agreed to the UN Principles on Responsible Investment, which require signatories to consider environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") factors in investments, and that it will promote these Principles within Japan's finance industry.