ESG

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.
"Climate Week" Pressures Businesses on Climate Action

October 02, 2015

Responding to pressure from activists and international organizations to measure and reduce their contributions to global warming, businesses gathered at "Climate Week NYC" to assure these actors of their implementation of the UN agenda on climate change.
NGOs Call for Reporting to End Corporate Tax Avoidance

September 30, 2015

The C20 Turkey, an alliance representing nongovernmental organizations throughout the G20 group of countries, has called for the G20 to commit to ensuring that corporate income is taxed where business activities take place and to promote public, country-by-country corporate reporting of all taxable income.
GRI Tracks Progress on Corporate Sustainability Reporting

September 30, 2015

Following the UN General Assembly's adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), the Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has introduced a tool that it says will help governments track the progress of companies in fulfilling a "target" of the SDGs that calls for corporate reporting on efforts toward "sustainability."
Paper Documents Market Responses to EU Disclosure Directive

September 22, 2015

A recent academic article on the market effects of an EU directive mandating the disclosure by companies of certain social and environmental information documents the negative market reactions to the directive among investors in companies with currently low disclosure levels and companies with weak nonfinancial performance.
UN Calls for Finance Regulators to Aid "Sustainability" Agenda

September 16, 2015

Prior to the expected adoption of the UN's proposed Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"), the UN Environment Programme has produced a study urging national financial regulators to adopt "policy tools," including regulations for "sustainable" investment and disclosure obligations, that advance the implementation of the SDGs in the global financial sector.