Communicating progress
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United Nations Global Compact
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Creating, Sharing and Posting a COP

Step One: Creating a COP

While there is no single structure for the creation of a COP, it is required to include:

  • A statement of continued support for the Global Compact in the opening letter, statement or message from the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman or other senior executive.
  • A description of practical actions that participants have taken to implement the Global Compact principles during the previous year.
  • A Measurement of outcomes or expected outcomes using, as much as possible, indicators or metrics such as those developed by the Global Reporting Initiative.

The first element underlines the importance of top management engagement for the successful implementation of corporate citizenship issues on a long-term basis. "If top management does not campaign relentlessly for the vision, set clear signals and priorities and behave as a role model, change will slow down and the organization will return to business as usual.

The second element provides a description of practical actions taken, including the process of implementation used to integrate the Global Compact principles into companies' operations. As the Global Compact is a voluntary initiative based on multi-stakeholder dialogue, this component is essential in helping to build a repository of best practices.

The third element - measurement of outcomes and expected outcomes - refers to one of the core strengths of the Global Compact: its recognition of continuous incremental improvement. A crucial component of improvement is therefore the measurement of outcomes via indicators. The most well developed set of globally applicable indicators is the GRI G3 guidelines. While the GRI G3 Guidelines do not represent the only way of preparing a COP, they do offer globally-recognized reporting guidance that can help produce strong COPs and are recommended by the GC. If the information provided in the Communication on Progress has been assured, it is suggested that the company also provides details on how this was accomplished.

Step Two: Sharing a COP with the Company’s Stakeholders

It is important to note that the COP is not a communication with the United Nations Global Compact Office. Rather it is intended to provide a means for participants to communicate their progress on implementing the ten Global Compact principles directly with their stakeholders. Therefore, ideally, COPs should be integrated into a companies existing communication with stakeholders, such as an annual financial or sustainability report. A stand alone COP should not be created, unless the company has no other vehicle to report on corpo­rate citizenship issues.

Just as important as the medium chosen for conveying the COP, is the method of distributing it to stakeholders. Submission to the Global Compact website is not sufficient and companies should use the established methods where stakeholders would expect to find sustainability information (e.g. websites, direct mailings, employee alerts, open houses) to share their COP.

Step Three: Posting a COP to the Global Compact Website

In addition to the sharing the COP with stakeholders companies are expected to post an electronic version (and web link if available) of their COP on the Global Compact website. Participants are also expected to briefly describe how COPs are made available to stakeholders.

Instructions for posting your COP are available at here.

Posting Deadlines

Initial COP

Company participants are required to post a first COP within two years from the date of joining the Global Compact. Should a company fail to meet this initial posting deadline, they will be marked as non-communicating in the participant database of the Global Compact website. Further, should a company also miss the second COP deadline after an additional year, the company will be removed from the Global Compact database of active participants and listed as inactive on the Global Compact website.

Subsequent COP

All subsequent COPs are due within one year following the previous COP posting. Should a company fail to meet this deadline they will be marked as non-communicating on the Global Compact website. Further, should a company fail to post a COP within two years of their previous posting, the company will be removed from the Global Compact database of active participants and listed as inactive on the Global Compact website.

Grace period

A 45 - 90 day grace period can be granted to those companies that contact the Global Compact Office and provide a reasonable explanation for the delay in communication (i.e. changes to reporting cycles, staffing and other challenges). Please click here to download a template for the grace period request.