ESG

ISO Promotes Use of Global Standards to Combat Climate Change

January 08, 2019

At a recent UN summit on climate change in Poland, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) hosted an event at which a group of “sustainability experts” emphasized ISO’s contributions to global standards seeking to “mainstream” efforts by companies and other organizations to combat climate change.
GRI Pushes for BHR-Focused Corporate Reporting

January 03, 2019

In a recent press release, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) described its ongoing efforts, including at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (BHR) in Geneva, to promote “sustainability” reporting as a tool to encourage corporate compliance with global BHR principles and establishment of BHR “due diligence” processes.
UNGA Chief Prioritizes Anti-Plastics Action

January 03, 2019

In December, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa launched a Campaign Against Plastic Pollution pushing countries to begin phasing out the production of “single-use plastics” including water bottles as a “priority” during her one-year term.
UN Committee Points to Expansion of “Climate Finance”

January 03, 2019

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Standing Committee on Finance recently found an ongoing expansion of “climate finance,” aimed at fulfilling the goals of the UN’s Paris climate accord, though UN officials warned that the financing of the environmental agenda needed to increase rapidly to achieve the UN’s environmental agenda.
“Green” Banks Mobilize Funding for Environmental Agenda

January 03, 2019

The Green Bank Network, a membership group of banks dedicated to funding projects that fulfill global environmental goals, has touted recent transactions of its members that they expect will mobilize $41 billion toward “green” infrastructure projects.
GRI Develops Global Standard on Reporting Tax Payments

December 19, 2018

As part of the global movement aimed at forcing businesses to pay their “fair share” of taxes to support social and environmental goals, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is launching an international standard to help companies publish, on a country-by-country basis, the taxes they are paying around the world.
ISO Creates Committee on “Sustainable Finance”

December 19, 2018

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently formed an “expert committee” charged with developing a global framework for aligning the world’s financial system with the UN’s comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals.
Activists Criticize Lack of Penalties in Australian Labor Law

December 18, 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that, in November, the Australian Parliament adopted a law requiring large companies and public bodies to disclose annually the steps they are taking to remove forced labor from their global supply chains, eliciting critiques from activists focusing on the lack of financial penalties for non-complying companies.
NGOs Seek Mandatory Baseline for EU “Sustainability” Reporting

December 17, 2018

A coalition of nongovernmental organizations recently produced a statement calling on the European Commission (EC) to amend EU rules on corporate non-financial reporting to create a mandatory, EU-wide baseline of reporting requirements on “sustainability” issues in line with global standards.
NGOs Seek EU Action on Investors’ “Sustainability” Reporting

December 14, 2018

A group of nongovernmental organizations recently published a letter to the EU Council calling for the body of EU member states to help clarify and expand the duties of investors in Europe to engage in due diligence and reporting of impacts of their funds on the global “sustainability” and climate change agenda.