Defines the unique characteristics possessed by leaders who are integrating sustainability across strategy, operations and stakeholder engagement and what this means for how CEOs, board members and executives are selected. Based on interviews with Board Members and CEOs, this white paper makes clear that the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires transformational business leaders who understand the need to look beyond near-term profits and embrace their role as change agents — both within and beyond their firms and broader ecosystems. This report is available in English and Chinese.

Contains inspiration and recommendations for Boards of Directors on adoption and oversight of corporate sustainability.

Building on the original Guide for General Counsel on Corporate Sustainability published in 2015, Version 2.0 provides further guidance to General Counsel to ensure they are better placed and better equipped to drive change and deliver value to their organizations through an increased focus on corporate sustainability. Topics include: Corporate Sustainability and Business Integrity Corporate Sustainability and Business Integrity Human Rights and Supply Chain Due Diligence Corporate Sustainability and Grievance Mechanisms Challenges to Corporate Sustainability - Managing a Crisis Please fill out the form below to download the full guide.

This working paper introduces the Supply Chain Leadership Ladder, a maturity model for supply chain sustainability programs, which companies can use to develop their program toward deeper impact.

Provides practical guidance and examples to in-house counsel in their emerging role as key change agents in advancing corporate sustainability issues within their respective organizations. The Guide seeks to raise the profile of General Counsel regarding the efforts they are making, and to inspire and encourage other General Counsel and Boards, senior executives and management of their respective organizations to take action and deliver long-term value.

The responsibility to comply with all applicable local, national, regional and international laws is a central tenet of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. Yet sometimes local or national laws pose requirements that conflict with internationally recognized human rights, thereby making it difficult or impossible for business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect human rights. The goal of this Good Practice Note is to provide business enterprises with a non-exhaustive set of good practices for addressing situations in which local or national laws appear to conflict with internationally recognized human rights.

This publication identifies a range of concrete actions that Governments and international organizations can undertake to better assist private-sector efforts to promote effective conflict-sensitive business practices.

This guide presents a brief introduction to the relevance of traceability for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which are looking to adopt traceability in their supply chains and also assists them to link their initiative to the newly launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It illustrates the opportunities, challenges and practical steps for implementing traceability programmes within SMEs and features case examples for driving SME traceability.

This guide offers baseline definitions and practical steps that SMEs can take toward effective management of the social, environmental and economic impacts of supply chains.

Advances understanding of Boardroom engagement in environmental, social and governance issues and provides a roadmap for how companies can better integrate oversight of these issues into the Board agenda.

This paper explores recent developments and best practices in supply chain transparency, supplier engagement, and responses to shifts in trade and globalization.

Outlines ways in which business can help uphold children’s rights and support and promote their well-being during humanitarian crises. It highlights the urgency and need to reach children in humanitarian crises and outlines the positive and negative impacts of business on children. It also aims to inspire action and stimulate learning by providing examples of how business can support and advance children’s rights and well-being.