ESG

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.
ISO Releases Guidance on "Sustainable Procurement"

December 19, 2017

An article from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) outlines the ISO's guidance on "sustainable procurement," which provides a strategy for organizations around the world to embed "sustainability principles" into their procurement processes and to encourage the production of "environmentally friendly" products throughout supply chains.
NGO Demands "Tax Haven" Blacklist, Corporate Reporting

December 19, 2017

The nongovernmental organization Oxfam has released a briefing paper calling on governments to avoid future tax scandals like the recent leak of the "Paradise Papers" showing corporate and individual tax avoidance by establishing a global blacklist of low-tax jurisdictions, a "global tax body" to provide for reforms, and a country-by-country corporate tax reporting scheme.
Philippines Investigates Fossil Fuel Companies for Climate Change

December 14, 2017

The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines is conducting the world’s first “national inquiry into the responsibility of the fossil fuel industry for the human rights impacts resulting from climate change hits,” with major companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP facing investigation in the wake of the deadly typhoon Yolanda, attributed by some to climate change.
Major Global Investors Push Companies on Climate Policy

December 14, 2017

A group of 225 major investors, who together control over $26 trillion in assets, have joined the Climate Action 100+ initiative, whose goal is to systematically engage 100 of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitting companies and push them to reduce emissions throughout their supply chains and begin releasing climate-related financial disclosures.
Environment Ministers Issue Anti-pollution Declaration

December 14, 2017

Member-state environment ministers issued a first-ever declaration at a meeting of the UN Environment Assembly, pledging to combat pollution via a variety of strategies, including by “moving societies towards sustainable lifestyles based on a circular economy [and] promoting fiscal incentives to move markets.”
Companies Increasingly Adopt Climate-Related Disclosure Guidelines

December 14, 2017

237 companies worldwide have declared their support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which has developed a set of voluntary recommendations for companies to disclose information relevant to the future effects of climate change on financial investments.
Paper Seeks Canadian Push on Climate Disclosures

December 08, 2017

A policy brief published by the Centre for International Governance Innovation calls on Canadian authorities to implement the recommendations of the G-20 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures by requiring companies to include global warming-related risks in their financial disclosures.