Global Compact International Yearbook 2014
Fighting poverty and global warming are key challenges for mankind. „This year we are laying the groundwork for success in 2015 on three fronts: achieving the Millennium Development Goals, adopting a meaningful new climate agreement, and establishing a new vision for a sustainable future“, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in the 2014 edition of the Global Compact International Yearbook. Edited by macondo publishing the new yearbook offers insights to political as well as sustainability issues. This years´ focus lies on the Post-2015 Agenda. We discuss the transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals. Question are among others: Are the concepts compatible? How does the architecture of a sustainable future look like? And above all: What role does corporate responsibility play in this context? The second key aspect in our Post-2105 discussion is about measuring the SDGs. In the past indicators have been developed and used in reporting progress toward the MDGs, and now the approach to upcoming SDGs must be systematically developed. This section also includes lessons from innovation management and "big data". Climate change is another focus of teh yearbook. It counts on very prominent authors like Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Sigmar Gabriel, Vice-Chancellor of the German government and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy. Other issues are : Traceability: How certification brings positive impacts and better traceability to business. Elaborated NGO inputs by Karin Kreider, the Executive Director of the ISEAL Alliance and one of the world’s leading experts on credible certification and eco-labeling, as well as Markus Arbenz, Executive Director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and Caroline Hickson, Director of Brand, Communications and Strategic Partnerships at Fairtrade International. Mandatory CSR: When CSR discussions started in the late 1960s, early 1970s ethical and moral arguments were the drivers. Since then CSR activities have become more holistic and professional. This becomes a principle-based approach in which business seeks to identify smarter business models, products, and services. Elmer Lenzen illuminates the boder zone between voluntary and mandatory CSR.
Fighting poverty and global warming are key challenges for mankind. „This year we are laying the groundwork for success in 2015 on three fronts: achieving the Millennium Development Goals, adopting a meaningful new climate agreement, and establishing a new vision for a sustainable future“, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in the 2014 edition of the Global Compact International Yearbook. Edited by macondo publishing the new yearbook offers insights to political as well as sustainability issues.
This years´ focus lies on the Post-2015 Agenda. We discuss the transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals. Question are among others: Are the concepts compatible? How does the architecture of a sustainable future look like? And above all: What role does corporate responsibility play in this context?
The second key aspect in our Post-2105 discussion is about measuring the SDGs. In the past indicators have been developed and used in reporting progress toward the MDGs, and now the approach to upcoming SDGs must be systematically developed. This section also includes lessons from innovation management and "big data".
Climate change is another focus of teh yearbook. It counts on very prominent authors like Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and Sigmar Gabriel, Vice-Chancellor of the German government and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Other issues are :
Traceability: How certification brings positive impacts and better traceability to business. Elaborated NGO inputs by Karin Kreider, the Executive Director of the ISEAL Alliance and one of the world’s leading experts on credible certification and eco-labeling, as well as Markus Arbenz, Executive Director of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and Caroline Hickson, Director of Brand, Communications and Strategic Partnerships at Fairtrade International.
Mandatory CSR: When CSR discussions started in the late 1960s, early 1970s ethical and moral arguments were the drivers. Since then CSR activities have become more holistic and professional. This becomes a principle-based approach in which business seeks to identify smarter business models, products, and services. Elmer Lenzen illuminates the boder zone between voluntary and mandatory CSR.
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Agenda<br />
Trends in CSR<br />
the environment. This means a listed large oil company will<br />
have to report on its oil spills and the health risks from gas<br />
flaring, for example, or a listed clothing retailer will have to<br />
consider risks in its supply chain.”<br />
Original proposals to extend the law to all large companies<br />
were blocked by some national governments, who also inserted<br />
a number of loopholes, which could mean some companies<br />
will be able to avoid reporting.<br />
Jerome Chaplier added: “Some Member States have sought to<br />
water down this legislation, weakening its scope and power.<br />
Some of the clauses introduced could be used by companies to<br />
limit what they report, effectively undermining the intentions<br />
of this reform. The European Commission must be ambitious<br />
in the way this reform is implemented and ensure that misleading<br />
information provided by companies can be challenged.”<br />
Flexibility by choosing the adequate standard<br />
The directive leaves significant flexibility for companies to<br />
disclose relevant information in the way that they consider<br />
most useful, or in a separate report. Companies may use international,<br />
European, or national guidelines that they consider<br />
appropriate (for instance, the UN <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Compact</strong>, ISO 26000,<br />
or the German Sustainability Code). Fogelberg from GRI added:<br />
“This is a truly historic moment, and I am confident that this is<br />
just the beginning of a new era for transparency and sustainable<br />
and inclusive growth in the EU.”<br />
Guidelines for companies on how to report under the new<br />
reform, including on water use, land use, greenhouse gas<br />
emissions, and use of materials, are expected from the European<br />
Commission within the next two years. The legislation<br />
is expected to be reviewed after four years.<br />
“The demand by investors and civil society for greater transparency<br />
and accountability of undertakings is growing,” says<br />
MEP Raffaele Baldassarre. “The new rules will enable forwardlooking<br />
business leaders to address this demand and to fully<br />
make use of the huge potential of CSR in order to increase their<br />
competitiveness while contributing to smart and sustainable<br />
growth in Europe.”<br />
Sources: European Union, European Coalition for Corporate Justice,<br />
<strong>Global</strong> Reporting Initiative, G&A Institute<br />
<strong>Global</strong> <strong>Compact</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Yearbook</strong> <strong>2014</strong> 187
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