UN Global Compact

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative with almost 20,000 participants (including over 15,000 companies). UN Global Compact supports companies to do business responsibly by aligning their strategies, policies and operations with the Ten Principles on Human Rights, Labour, Environment, and Anti-corruption, and to take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation.

Ten Principles

UN Global Compact sets out Ten Principles, which are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact are:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

What does it mean for the company?

As a participant of the UN Global Compact, a company:

• Sets in motion changes to business operations so that the UN Global Compact and its Ten Principles become part of strategy, organisational culture and day-to-day operations, as well as decision-making processes;

• Is expected to publicly advocate the UN Global Compact and its Ten Principles via communications vehicles such as press releases, speeches, etc.; and

• Is required to communicate with their stakeholders on an annual basis about progress in:

  • Implementing the Ten Principles; and

  • Efforts to support societal priorities.

For the submission of the Communication on Progress (CoP), a Basic Template is provided as an aid. This consists of:

• Statement of continued support by the CEO

• Description of actions on:

  • Human rights;

  • Labour;

  • Environment; and,

  • Anti-Corruption.

• Measurement of outcome

A new version of the CoP is coming in 2023. The CoP questionnaire asks about set targets and company policy regarding the Ten Principles and the SDGs. More specifically, it requires concrete information on, for example:

• Governance (risk assessment processes, grievance mechanisms, executive pay, board composition);

• Human rights (policy commitment, prevention actions);

• Labour (collective bargaining agreements, diversity of staff, injuries and incident rate); and

• Environment (environmental policy, emissions, R&D for low-carbon products, technology).