Welcome to the latest Innovation Forum business brief. This week: can new coalitions of the willing be future drivers of sustainable business?
Why ‘We Are Still In’ coalitions can drive sustainable business
Is the subnational group reinforcing US commitment to climate action – whatever the current administration’s view – indicative of a new trend?
During the negotiations at the UN climate change meeting in Bonn, one of the favourite games was watching which ministers from governments around the world would turn up, and who would play the biggest role in helping keep the Paris deal on tough pledges to cut emissions moving forward.
A notable dissenter, of course, was the US administration. Rather than being led by a senior cabinet minister, as most other delegations have been, the American team was headed by an under-secretary from the US state department.
Other governments have used the Paris agreement to help establish ambitious plans. France has pledged to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. Donald Trump, on the other hand, intends to take his nation out of the deal which he says “undermines” the US economy, putting it at a “permanent disadvantage”. At the COP23 meeting, the US delegation hosted a forum to discuss the merits of coal and nuclear power (prompting Michael Bloomberg to suggest that this was like promoting tobacco at a cancer conference) … click here for the full story
Investor alliance to push for human rights progress
A new ICCR initiative aims to direct the impact of the investment community to drive business action on human rights
The recent launch of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility’s new Investor Alliance for Human Rights indicates positive progress on addressing human rights abuse in supply chains. And also the clear need for companies to work harder to bolster efforts to look after people working throughout their entire value chains, spurred on by the investment community.
The UN guiding principles on human rights and business offer a solid framework to help companies assess human rights risks. But there is still an apparent gap between those showing leadership in integrating such principles into their companies and those that are still unaware of just how far their core operations may be linked to human rights abuse.
And the recent Corporate Human Rights Benchmark report offers further evidence that … click here for the full story