Designed to help you find the resources you need to take the next step on your sustainability journey.
The CoP questionnaire focuses on five disclosure areas (governance, human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption) and is designed to help participating companies monitor performance across the Ten Principles. There will be no scoring or ranking associated with the CoP questionnaire. Rather, the objective is to create transparency and enable progress.
Policy Document
The role of businesses in society is continuously evolving, marked by increasing expectations that companies address political and social issues. This business brief focuses on transformational governance in the context of responsible governmental engagement and explores three prominent channels of governmental engagement - lobbying, advocacy and collective action - highlighting their complexities and the need for a clear integrity framework for related corporate action.
Investors’ assessments of risks and opportunities at both the industry and company levels can be the basis of engagement to inform company strategies and to improve government policies in the interest of stakeholders and shareholders. These impacts have a wider effect of contributing to an enabling ecosystem where businesses experience less volatility and can create long-term value. This business brief highlights some of the barriers and opportunities for investors to support the rule of law, civic space and responsible tax practices - key to upholding a prosperous operating environment.
This business brief introduces the approach of transformational governance in the context of Boards of Directors and Executive Leadership, including key trends, relevant areas of work and priority actions. It provides insights on how business leaders can incorporate transformational governance into their strategies and actions, supporting the goals of SDG 16 and promoting responsible business practices. Corporate Boards of Directors and C-suite executives are central to the alignment of corporate governance with societal impact. As companies engage with TG principles and practices, corporate leadership will be better prepared to address emerging challenges, recognizing that pressures and expectations are expanding beyond traditional boundaries.
Companies have chosen to look at their policies and existing programmes to understand how they can better support women in the workplace, marketplace and community. More than 9,000 CEOs have signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a set of seven Principles guiding business to advance gender equality. Building on these Principles, the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool is an online self-assessment that allows companies to anonymously assess their gender equality performance. This report presents the aggregated findings of the self-assessment tool for 2,777 companies across 117 countries for selected indicators from 2 December 2021 to 1 December 2023. The results cover companies of varying sizes, with more than half being large enterprises and 45 per cent being small- and medium-sized enterprises. The companies come from a broad range of industries from healthcare to financial services.
This report highlights the United Nations Global Compact's initiative to engage corporate legal functions in sustainability through the Transformational Governance (TG) approach, launched in June 2022. It details the efforts to understand and address the challenges legal functions face in today's multifaceted sustainability landscape and to incubate the idea of a function-based Network. The findings underscore the critical role of cross-functional collaboration and leadership in simplifying ESG integration.
Guidance and good practices to advance ESG and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Second Half of the 2030 Agenda This guidebook offers guidance and best practices to advance ESG and the Sustainable Development Goals in China and beyond. It contains a collection of case studies and business guidelines, highlighting the good practices and lessons learned when businesses in China work to advance gender equality. Including China’s company practices and personal stories of front-line women employees, as well as suggested gender roadmaps and key resources for business to contribute to the collective efforts towards SDG 5, this Guidebook aims to inspire more companies across China, Asia and the world, to move from commitment to action and advance gender equality. The guidebook applies a special lens on the diversity of workplaces and the challenges of non-traditional workforce and male-dominated industries. The very different workplaces—from transport, factories, and laboratories to digital apps and sales offices—generate first-hand lessons learned and effective policies by business, providing practical guidelines and reflections under present economic conditions.
The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact, is proud to present its 2023 Annual Report: a comprehensive overview of PRME’s achievements, initiatives, and impact throughout the past year. Discover highlights of impact across PRME’s global Chapters, thematic Working Groups, Champions, PRME Global Students, and innovative initiatives that are shaping the future of business education. Broken up by PRME’s pillars of work: Equipping for Impact, Exchanging Knowledge, and Making Measurable Progress, each section encapsulates our dedication to creating a more sustainable and equitable world through business education.
The United Nations Global Compact–Accenture CEO Study offers a candid look at perspectives of more than 2,600 CEOs across 128 countries and 18 industries at the urgent opportunities and challenges for leaders to contribute to the 2023 Agenda and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Fifty global executives convened during the UN General Assembly’s week of high-level debates, to candidly share corporate approaches to converging global crises. This business-to-business discussion focused on complex dilemmas related to strengthening peace, justice, and strong institutions (Sustainable Development Goal 16). Discussion centered around three questions: 1. How are you managing increased pressure to take a stand on political and social issues? 2. How are you weighing the cost of doing something, versus the cost of doing nothing? 3. How can lobbying be part of an accountability framework regarding corporate actions in these areas? This document summarizes high-level take-aways.
A helpful resource providing question rationale and guidance, linked reporting references, and a glossary of terms to assist in the completion of the enhanced CoP questionnaire.