Handbook English - Earth Charter Initiative

A major part of the ECI strategy for engaging business involves working in partnership with business
leaders and building alliances with business related initiatives, such as the UN Global Compact and the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI). In the context of these alliances, business leaders are invited to use the Earth
Charter as a common ethical framework in their dialogue with civil society actors and other stakeholders.
Businesses that support the Earth Charter, but do not yet participate in GRI are encouraged to do so.
After extensive research and dialogue, ECI, in cooperation with the Dutch National Committee for
International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO), has developed a Guidance Paper that
responds to questions about how the Earth Charter relates to other leading global initiatives such as the UN
Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This paper is designed to help Earth Charter users
and those using the GRI and Global Compact to understand the synergies and complementary strengths of
these three initiatives. It endeavors to explain how businesses can integrate the Earth Charter into the reporting
processes organized by GRI and other similar efforts. ECI places special emphasis in its work with businesses
on the value of adopting GRI guidelines. An alliance with GRI has been developed along these lines.
The ECI encourages all businesses to use the Earth Charter in one or more of the following ways:
Engage employees with the Earth Charter for the purpose of learning, training, and inspiration.
Assess the activities of the business in the light of Earth Charter values and principles, using the Global
Reporting Initiative’s Guidelines.
Incorporate Earth Charter values and principles in the business mission statement and its core operations
with the goal of developing a more socially and ecologically responsible business.
ECI will not attempt to create a special administrative staff for this focus area, nor will it monitor individual
business participation. Instead, ECI will develop resources that will be made available via the website, and
encourage businesses to participate in this focus area by endorsing the Earth Charter, making use of the
resources, and taking actions of the kind described above.
A task force to help implement the Earth Charter strategy in the field of business is being put in place.
See the Principles for Engaging Business in the Earth Charter Initiative in Section VII.
For more information about the current work of this Task Force contact:
Alide Roerink
NCDO, The Netherlands
Email: e.charter@ncdo.nl
Oscar Motomura
Amana key, Brazil
Email: motomura@amana-key.com.br
Education
Education is fundamental to the mission of Earth Charter Initiative and ECI has, therefore, created the
Earth Charter Center for Education for Sustainable Development at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Earth Charter Initiative
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