ESG

Groups Seek Use of Global Standards in National Policy

November 18, 2015

The International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, and the UN Economic Commission for Europe recently convened a conference at which officials from these organizations promoted the use of international standards, often dealing with business conduct, in accomplishing national policy goals.
H&M Signs Global Agreement on Worker Rights

November 18, 2015

Highlighting the growing pressure on clothing retail companies to support activist efforts to improve worker conditions in their supply chains, garment retailer H&M, the trade union organization IndustriALL Global Union, and Swedish union IF Metall have signed a deal pushing collective agreements and monitoring of employee rights in the H&M supply chain.
NGO Calls for Reporting Requirements on Commodity Trading

November 03, 2015

The nongovernmental organization Berne Declaration has called on Switzerland and the international organization the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to do more to push businesses to publish the payments they make to countries in commodities trading in order to "close the transparency gap" in the extractive sector.
UN Pressure Yields Bank "Manifesto" on Climate Funding

October 28, 2015

As the UN and activists place pressure on banks and other financial companies to fund their global agenda on the environment, ten bank members of the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative have published a "Positive Impact Manifesto" to demonstrate their commitment to financing sustainable development.
NGO Criticizes Limited Reach of OECD Tax Proposal

October 15, 2015

The nongovernmental organization Tax Justice Network has criticized the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") for failing, in its recent corporate tax information sharing proposal, to require country-by-country reporting and to treat parent and subsidiary companies as part of a single entity.
Food Companies Face Lawsuits over Supply Chains

October 15, 2015

Highlighting the complexity inherent in requiring corporate disclosure of supply-chain activity, a set of class-action lawsuits against chocolate companies Mars, Nestle, and Hershey allege these companies violated a California law requiring that they disclose the use of child labor in their supply chains.
NGO Seeks Strong Supply-Chain Reporting Laws

October 14, 2015

In a recent analysis of a California law requiring certain businesses to report on their efforts to eradicate forced labor in their supply chains, the nongovernmental organization KnowTheChain has criticized the limited reach of the law and calls for greater public transparency on which companies must prepare reports.
Businesses Respond to Activist Pressure on Climate Policy

October 09, 2015

The New York Times reports that pressure from environmental activists is having an effect on business and investment policies, as several major companies announce that they will sign pledges to reduce the effects of their operations on climate change and large investment managers have promised to remove the money they control from fossil fuel companies.
Businesses Sign up to Coalition on Climate Change

October 08, 2015

Reflecting pressure on businesses from governments, activists, and international organizations to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a group of companies have formed a coalition called "We Mean Business" vowing to counter global warming in their operations.
Beverage Businesses Commit to Climate Action

October 07, 2015

As pressure rises from activists and international organizations for businesses to commit to action to counter climate change, a group of companies in the beverage industry has released a statement indicating that they will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and support an "international framework" of national targets on greenhouse gas reduction.