ESG

UK Considers Reporting Measures on Executive Pay

September 18, 2017

Money Marketing reports that the UK government is set to propose rules requiring publicly listed companies to publish a ratio comparing the pay of their chief executive officer to the salary of their average staff member and establishing a register listing companies in which one-fifth of shareholders opposed the current level of executive pay.
OECD Publishes Reviews on Global Tax Cooperation

September 18, 2017

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published the first set of "peer reviews" in which governments rated each other on their compliance with the OECD's global standards providing for the automatic exchange of corporate tax and other financial information to combat tax avoidance.
Australia Pitches Corporate Labor Reporting Law

September 01, 2017

The Age reports that the Australian government is preparing legislation that will request that large businesses release annual "Modern Slavery Statements," to be placed in a publicly accessible database, explaining efforts they are taking to eliminate forced labor across their global supply chains.
Report Pushes Energy Industry Action on All SDGs

August 31, 2017

An "atlas" from the World Bank Group, UN Development Programme, and an international industry association describes how the oil and gas industry can mitigate its social and environmental harms while simultaneously contributing toward all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Exxon Study Shows Danger of Climate Reporting

August 31, 2017

A study by Harvard University’s Geoffrey Supran and Naomi Oreskes highlights the pitfalls for companies of mandated public disclosure rules on social and environmental issues, asserting that ExxonMobil misled the public on climate change by publicly challenging climate science that it privately accepted as true.
Chinese Government Promotes Green Financing

August 31, 2017

The Chinese government is seeking to expand the country’s "green finance" sector in order to pursue “sustainable growth" and fulfill commitments the country made to limit its greenhouse gas emissions under the UN's 2015 Paris climate deal.
UK Eyes Expansion of Corporate Reporting Law

August 31, 2017

Helena Milner-Smith and Hannah Edmonds of the law firm Covington & Burling have published an update on UK legislation that would expand the mandatory provisions of a law requiring British companies to publicly report on their efforts to eliminate forced labor in their global supply chains, and exclude companies that fail to comply from public procurement processes.
Governments Pressure Companies to Contribute to SDGs

August 31, 2017

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative on the proceedings of the UN High-Level Political Forum on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlights how countries reporting their SDG progress to the UN are increasingly lookin to the private sector, through corporate reporting and other methods, to contribute to their efforts.
Telecom Company Agrees to Implement SDGs

August 30, 2017

As part of the UN's partnership with a broad range of the private sector on the achievement of its comprehensive Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Kenyan telecommunications company Safaricom has signed a memorandum of understanding committing to working with UN Environment to incorporate various environmental SDG targets into its operations.
Companies Support Australian Reporting Mandate

August 30, 2017

In submissions to a joint committee in Australia exploring the establishment of a corporate reporting regime on forced labor in global supply chains, companies and business groups expressed their broad support for mandatory reporting, and in some cases for a "due diligence" law, but warned against measures that are "overly prescriptive" and costly.