ESG

Experts Detail Reporting Obligations Under UK Slavery Act

December 18, 2015

A group of legal experts from Doughty Street International have published an article on the obligation of UK businesses to report on their efforts to rid their supply chains of forced labor under the country's new Modern Slavery Act and the possible civil and criminal sanctions against companies that fail to sufficiently comply.
GRI Seeks "Real-time" Business Transparency

December 16, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has released an article trumpeting its promotion of global standards on the environment and human rights in the context of the recent UN climate-change conference in Paris, and predicting future "real-time" public data from companies on the environmental and social impacts of their decisions.
EU Committee Pushes Tax Avoidance Legislation

December 16, 2015

The European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee has adopted a set of legislative recommendations for the European Commission to consider instituting a common EU corporate tax base, requiring businesses to report finances on a country-by-country basis, and other proposals that would restrict corporate tax avoidance in the EU.
Report Finds Forced Labor in Nestle Supply Chain

December 16, 2015

As activist and government pressure on businesses to identify and address human-rights and environmental problems in their often-complex supply chains ramps up, a report commissioned by Nestle has found that portions of the food company's supply chain in Thailand uses forced labor.
UN Calls for Corporate Reporting on SDGs

December 16, 2015

The UN Environment Programme has published a report that argues companies are not sufficiently reporting their implementation of environmental and social provisions contained in the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs") for 2030 and that calls on businesses to comply with international standards in their SDG reporting.
GRI Links Reporting Standards to UN's BHR Agenda

December 14, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has published a document seeking to demonstrate how companies can comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ("BHR") by following GRI "G4" standards on public reporting of human rights and other information.
GRI Pushes Australian Companies on Climate Change

December 01, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") asserts that Australian companies, based on the information they publicly report, are not doing enough to manage risks related to global warming and has issued guidance on how these companies can report their implementation of the global "sustainability" agenda.
Consultant Pushes UK Law as Model for BHR Reporting

November 30, 2015

Steve Gibbons of business and human rights ("BHR") consultancy Ergon Associates writes that businesses should use recent UK legislation that will require companies to report on the use of forced labor in their supply chains as a model and an opportunity for increased public reporting on their implementation of global BHR standards.
GRI Creates Board on "Sustainability" Reporting

November 30, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has launched its Global Sustainability Standards Board, made up of labor, civil society, business, and other representatives, to develop worldwide standards for companies to report their progress in implementing the UN's environmental and social agenda.
EU Committee Presses Companies on Tax Policies

November 25, 2015

At a recent hearing, members of the European Parliament Special Committee on Tax Rulings questioned business representatives on their alleged tax avoidance and considered whether the EU should mandate country-by-country reporting of corporate tax payments within the bloc.