ESG

GRI, CDP Push for Corporate Reporting on UN Climate Goals

July 24, 2019

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and climate reporting nonprofit CDP have published recommendations pressing businesses to align their corporate reporting practices with the pledges their governments made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the UN’s Paris climate accord.
UN Agency Forms Alliance on Methane Emissions

July 24, 2019

The UN Environment Programme recently announced that it is forming a Global Methane Alliance to pressure oil and gas companies around the world to focus on reducing methane emissions as a major culprit in the catastrophic impacts of global warming.
UN Posts Green Climate Fund Resource on Data Portal

July 23, 2019

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has posted a Green Climate Fund Data module to its online portal that allows observers to track “climate finance” efforts, seeking to create a “one-stop open data source” for users to learn how the UN fund funnels global financing into achieving the Paris climate deal.
Investor Statement Pushes UN Line on Climate Reporting

July 23, 2019

Highlighting the impact of the UN’s and activists’ push for corporate action and reporting on global warming, a group of investors has published a call for governments to do more to implement the 2015 Paris climate agreement, including through emissions reduction and mandatory climate reporting by financial institutions.
NGOs Allege Lack of Compliance with French “Vigilance” Law

July 10, 2019

Nongovernmental organizations Sherpa and Terre Solidaire have developed a list of French companies they believe are subject to the country’s “duty of vigilance” law, finding that approximately one-quarter of these companies have not published reports on addressing rights impacts and lamenting the lack of a national monitoring mechanism.
Germany Fines Facebook over “Hate Speech” Reporting

July 03, 2019

Politico reports that the German government has fined Facebook €2 million for failing to adequately report the number of complaints the social-media giant received relating to “hate speech” on its platform.
Standard Setters Publish Shared Principles of Corporate Reporting

July 03, 2019

A group of organizations that provide standards for corporate reporting, including the Global Reporting Initiative, has published a paper stressing the common, “fundamental” principles they believe must undergird all corporate reporting and the need for businesses to demonstrate accountability to a variety of “stakeholders.”
ISO Committee Develops Standards for “Circular Economy”

June 26, 2019

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has formed a technical committee to develop an internationally agreed framework regarding how organizations should contribute to a “circular economy” in which all resources are reused or regenerated.
EC Body Seeks Exclusion of Coal, Nuclear Power from Finance Framework

June 26, 2019

The European Commission’s (EC) Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance has published recommendations calling on the EC to exclude coal and nuclear power projects from classification as sustainable investments.
UK Pledges Action for "Sustainable" Fashion

June 26, 2019

The UK Government has issued a response to a House of Commons Committee’s report on clothing consumption and sustainability pledging to use “regulatory and economic instruments” to address the environmental impacts of the fashion industry and to make producers responsible for the costs of disposal.