ESG

UK Commission Seeks Law on Pensions' "Social Impact"

January 03, 2018

The Thomson Reuters Foundation reports on proposals from the UK's Law Commission for legislation requiring UK pension funds to review the "social impact" of the investments they make and mandating that the UK's Financial Conduct Authority issue guidance on considering "non-financial factors" when investing.
Article Reviews French, British BHR "Diligence" Legislation

January 03, 2018

A group of attorneys from law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer describe the current state of business and human rights (BHR) "due diligence" legislation in France and the UK, finding that France has moved beyond Britain in penalizing businesses that fail to show they are monitoring and addressing BHR risks in their supply chains.
Norway's Wealth Fund Plans Divestment from Oil, Gas

January 03, 2018

Bloomberg reports that Norway's central bank has announced plans to divest money in the country's $1 trillion wealth fund from oil and gas projects and companies "to spread the risks for the state’s wealth" beyond what it perceives as declining future fossil fuel prices in light of global climate action.
Lawyers Praise French BHR "Vigilance" Penalties

January 02, 2018

Stéphane Brabant and Elsa Savourey of the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills write that, while the elements of a French law creating a civil action for alleged victims of business and human rights (BHR) violations by French companies remain relatively weak, its penalties on companies for failing to monitor BHR violations of their subsidiaries could serve as an effective deterrent.
IOC Renews Gender Equality Deal with UN Agency

December 29, 2017

In its renewal of an agreement with UN Women, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has accepted a responsibility to "empower" women through sports and to promote "women’s leadership and gender equality in the sport industry" around the world, as part of the IOC's implementation of the global business and human rights agenda.
Organizations Tout Global Standards on Climate Impact

December 28, 2017

The International Organization for Standardization and the International Accreditation Forum held a side event at the recent UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany, discussing how global standards from these groups are guiding businesses and other organizations on reducing their environmental impacts and combating global warming.
NGO Releases 2017 "Conflict Minerals" Rankings

December 21, 2017

In November, the Enough Project released its 2017 Conflict Minerals Company Rankings as part of its campaign to force technology and jewelry companies to ramp up their "due diligence" efforts to ensure their supply chains are free from so-called "conflict minerals" produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
BHR "Benchmarking" Sparks Corporate Pushback

December 21, 2017

Lawyers from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP examine a broad array of business and human rights (BHR) "benchmarking" initiatives in civil society and raise potential problems related to such initiatives, such as arbitrary ranking processes and inconsistencies in the consideration of reported data, that make these projects targets for corporate pushback in the near future.
NGOs Push EU to Require Corporate "Diligence" on Rights

December 21, 2017

In November, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice released a briefing identifying a legal obligation of EU institutions to adopt legislation providing for mandatory "human rights due diligence" rules requiring companies to investigate and redress human rights violations throughout their global supply chains.
UN Publishes "Green Finance" Guide for Stock Exchanges

December 21, 2017

The UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative has released a Green Finance Action Plan as a "benchmarking tool" to guide stock exchanges around the world on how to pressure associated companies to divert their investments into projects that will help achieve the UN's "sustainable development" agenda.