ESG

World Bank Launches Sustainable Development Notes

November 30, 2018

The World Bank recently announced that, in partnership with UBS, it would issue “sustainable development notes” that would underwrite risks taken by investors financing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals in line with the principles of the UN Global Compact business network and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mattel Partners with UN on TV Show’s SDG Promotion

November 30, 2018

The Los Angeles Times reports that Mattel and the UN are engaged in a collaborative project through which UN staffers assist in creating stories for the television show “Thomas & Friends” that promote the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including by using “gender-sensitive language” and teaching children about the UN’s environmental agenda.
Paper Proposes Redistributive German Climate Policy

November 29, 2018

The German Advisory Council on Global Change recently published a paper calling on the German government to pursue a “just & in-time” policy on climate change that would support lawsuits against companies to cover the costs of global warming-related damages.
UN Rights Observer Identifies Business Duties Throughout Supply Chain

November 29, 2018

As part of a statement praising electronics company Samsung for accepting an arbitration proposal from workers who fell ill after handling its products, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances Baskut Tuncak identified broad responsibilities of businesses to protect human rights “throughout the lifecycle of their products.”
Exxon Funds US Campaign to Tax Carbon Emissions

October 10, 2018

Showing increased pressure from the UN and nongovernmental organizations on corporations to align their policies with the Paris climate accord, Bloomberg reports that energy giant Exxon Mobil will invest $1 million in a political campaign lobbying the US government for the taxation of corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
NGO Report Seeks Investor Pressure for Climate Policies

September 26, 2018

The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Harvard’s Initiative on Responsible Investment have produced guidance explaining how investors should accelerate a “just transition” away from greenhouse gas emissions by pushing companies to reduce and report on climate risks in their operations.
NGO Rankings Pressure Pension Funds on Climate Action

September 11, 2018

A nongovernmental initiative called the Asset Owners Disclosure Project has published a ranking of climate action by the world’s largest public pension funds, warning that 60 percent of these funds have “little or no strategy” on how they plan to comply with the global agenda aiming to restrict corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
Facebook Energy Pledge Aims to Fulfill UN Climate Agenda

September 04, 2018

Engadget reports on tech giant Facebook’s announcement that it will power its global operations with renewable energy by the end of the year 2020 and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent within that time frame, as part of a trend of ambitious climate commitments agreed by businesses since the signing of the UN’s 2015 Paris climate accord.
ISO Publishes Standard for Measure “Carbon Footprint”

August 31, 2018

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a new global standard to enable businesses to quantify, publicly report on, and reduce the level of their greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with the global agenda against climate change.
UN Agents Applaud Penalization of Monsanto over Weedkiller

August 31, 2018

UN human rights mandate holders have welcomed the decision of a US jury to award $289 million in damages from agricultural products company Monsanto due to “potential causal relations” between its weedkiller and cancer, predicting the damages will place pressure on companies to protect a “wide range” of environmental and other rights.