UN-ESG

Framework Seeks Broad Corporate Human Rights Reporting

February 25, 2015

The nongovernmental organization Shift and the accountancy firm Mazars have published the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, which calls for companies to publicly report their actions on a broad range of issues relating to the international business and human rights agenda.
NGO Calls for EU to Expand Conflict Minerals Regulations

February 25, 2015

The nongovernmental organization the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations has published an article calling for a "radical" expansion of the EU's corporate reporting regime on "conflict minerals" to include the sourcing of a number of minerals from regions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
GRI Seeks Use of Guidelines for EU Reporting Initiative

February 11, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") has recommended that businesses use GRI's previously developed "G4 Guidelines" to comply with new requirements under EU law to report the social and environmental impacts of their operations.
NGOs Call on EU to Mandate "Conflict Minerals" Reporting

February 11, 2015

As calls from nongovernmental organizations ("NGOs") seeking social and environmental reporting by European businesses grow, a group of NGOs has produced a report seeking legislation from the EU that would mandate reporting of the use of "conflict minerals" from African countries in business operations.
French Bill Seeks to Expand Foreign Access to Courts

February 04, 2015

A legislative proposal in the French Parliament would in effect require French corporations to perform due diligence on potential harms in their operations and could open the door to an increase in lawsuits by foreign nationals on business and human rights issues in the French courts.
NGO Pushes "Country by Country" Financial Reporting

January 28, 2015

Amid calls for an investigation of alleged Luxembourg tax breaks for the company Amazon, the nongovernmental organization ("NGO") Transparency International argues that such an investigation could have been avoided if the EU had adopted a "country by country" financial reporting requirement for companies.
GRI Forms "Leadership Groups" on Reporting Initiatives

January 21, 2015

The Global Reporting Initiative ("GRI") reports that it is forming two "Corporate Leadership Groups" that will focus on how to advance the inclusion of reporting on "sustainability" - including social and environmental matters - in regular reporting by businesses.
CIGI Considers Global Governance of BHR in Finance Sector

December 24, 2014

A Centre for International Governance Innovation ("CIGI") report discusses how to improve the international Equator Principles for project finance, and other principles related to business and human rights ("BHR"), to better pressure financial institutions to advance the international BHR and environmental agenda.
Activists Praise U.K. Extractive Transparency Law

December 03, 2014

The nongovernmental organization Publish What You Pay has praised the U.K.'s enactment of legislation requiring companies in the extractive industry to report all payments to governments, as it argues the measure will pressure developing countries to provide more money for economic and social rights.
Turkish Stock Exchange Launches Sustainability Initiative

November 19, 2014

The Turkish stock exchange Borsa Istanbul has established a "sustainability index" that will evaluate how companies perform in their operations regarding such issues as climate change and human rights.