Toward Rio: Global Compact Aims to Advance Sustainability with Integrity
(3BL Media) New York - June 11, 2012 - To highlight the importance of ethics and compliance in delivering corporate sustainability’s full potential, the UN Global Compact has developed a new report, Sustainability with Integrity: Organisational Change to Collective Action. The publication illustrates a range of corporate actions to implement the Global Compact’s tenth principle on anti-corruption around the world.
With a focus on anti-corruption corporate efforts and collective action, the report features companies from different sectors and operating contexts. Highlighting the potential of collective action as an effective mechanism to address corruption risks, the publication features five organisations from Brazil, China, Kenya, Serbia and the United Kingdom, and their approach to anti-corruption collective action.
Over the last ten years, the field of anti-corruption, ethics and compliance has developed significantly as corporate awareness of these issues increases with changing legal and social environments. However, according to the UN Global Compact Annual Implementation Survey, the 10th Principle Against Corruption remains one of the most difficult areas to implement. Anti-corruption is also a least-reported issue area among UN Global Compact participants’ annual Communications on Progress.
The report was developed in response to a year-long effort by the UN Global Compact Office to collect practical information on steps that organisations have taken to integrate anti-corruption into strategies and operations. Numerous companies and organisations submitted their examples, which provided the basis for the report.
“Exciting promises of a low-carbon economy and sustainable future are often constrained by weak governance and rampant corruption,” said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “Transparency and strong anti-corruption measures will contribute significantly to realising sustainability priorities. Businesses play a significant role in this endeavour, and we hope this publication will inspire companies committed to anti-corruption to scale up their efforts.”
Since the introduction of the 10th Principle in 2003, the UN Global Compact has led efforts to integrate the anti-corruption agenda into the corporate sustainability movement by building the business case, developing tools and resources, and convening collective action at the country level.
Sustainability with Integrity: Organisational Change to Collective Action will be featured during the Anti-Corruption Risk Assessment as Basis for a Sustainable Organisation session at the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, on 17 June at 9:00 a.m.
- Download Sustainability with Integrity: Organisational Change to Collective Action
- Learn more about Anti-Corruption
About the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum:
Innovation and Collaboration for the Future We Want
Hosted by the UN Global Compact, in cooperation with the Rio+20 Secretariat, the UN System and the Global Compact Local Network Brazil, the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum (15-18 June 2012) seeks to bring greater scale and quality to corporate sustainability practices, as a critical contribution to sustainable development. As a showcase for innovation and collaboration, the Forum is designed to be a launching ground for widespread action. With more than 2,000 participants in attendance, the Forum features over 100 sessions focused on six themes central to the Rio+20 agenda: Energy & Climate, Water & Ecosystems, Agriculture & Food, Social Development, Urbanization & Cities, and Economics & Finance. www.compact4rio.org
About the UN Global Compact
Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a both a policy platform and a practical framework for companies that are committed to sustainability and responsible business practices. As a multi-stakeholder leadership initiative, it seeks to align business operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals. With 7,000 corporate signatories in 135 countries, it is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. www.unglobalcompact.org
