ESG

NGO Pushes Canadian Corporate Reporting Law

March 01, 2017

Citing multiple examples of mandatory reporting laws from the US, UK, and France, a report from the Shareholder Association for Research & Education calls for Canada to adopt a similar mandatory regime requiring that corporations report to their investors information about labor rights risks in their global supply chains.
Agricultural Lenders Adopt ESG Principles

March 01, 2017

Members of the Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance, an alliance of agricultural lending institutions, has adopted a set of "environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles" to promote "socially and environmentally responsible" lending to agricultural projects in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Australia Reviews Corporate Reporting on Forced Labor

February 28, 2017

A subcommittee of the Australian Parliament has announced that it is beginning an inquiry into whether the country should pursue legislation, similar to the UK's Modern Slavery Act, imposing requirements on businesses to disclose their efforts to end forced labor in their global supply chains.
Companies Tout Contributions to SDGs

February 27, 2017

The "business intelligence" entity Ethical Corporation has produced a publication containing interviews with representatives of various multinational corporations on how they have implemented provisions of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a comprehensive list of targets for the social and environmental agenda, in their global operations.
Companies Plan Continued Reporting on Foreign Operations

February 21, 2017

Reuters reports that, at a mining conference in Cape Town, corporate leaders asserted that extractives companies will continue to respond to global pressure, from actors ranging from UN officials to human rights activists, to disclose details of their foreign operations despite recent US actions against mandatory reporting of foreign payments and mineral sourcing.
US Congress Passes Repeal of Extractives Disclosure Rule

February 21, 2017

Reuters reports that the US Congress has voted to repeal a Securities and Exchange Commission rule, mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial services legislation, requiring oil, gas, and mining companies to publicly disclose payments they make to foreign governments.
GRI Releases Reporting Guidance for India

February 21, 2017

As part of the organization's efforts to be a global one-stop shop for business guidelines on "sustainability" disclosures, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has released guidance with the Bombay Stock Exchange on how companies can fulfill India's "business responsibility reporting requirements" while following GRI's global reporting standards.
GRI Plans Guidance on EU "Sustainability" Disclosure

February 21, 2017

The Global Reporting Initiative and the business network CSR Europe have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on regional guidance for companies on how to comply with the EU Directive on Non-Financial and Diversity Disclosure, which requires businesses to publicly disclose their impacts on the global "sustainable development" agenda.
German Bank Pledges Coal Withdrawal

February 20, 2017

The Guardian reports that Germany's Deutsche Bank has announced that it will fulfill its pledge from the Paris climate change summit in 2015 to cut fossil fuel investments by providing no new financing for certain coal projects and reducing its existing funding to such projects in the coming years.
NGOs Seek Corporate Support on Foreign Payments Rule

February 16, 2017

A coalition of nongovernmental organizations called Publish What You Pay has released an open letter to companies in the mining, oil, and gas industries calling on them to pressure the US Congress to maintain an Obama Administration rule, targeted for repeal by legislators, requiring these companies to report their payments to foreign governments.