Everyone talks about ESG and its environmental, social and governance criteria. Together, these 3 factors are a set of standards that companies use to boost their business and choose investments with good potential.
Behind every management system, including those related to ESG, there must be principles that the organization must follow.
These principles are closely related to the company’s values and will help define which path to follow to implement good practices and thus achieve results.
However, as there is no standard that addresses ESG as a whole, doubts may arise in the minds of implementers. Therefore, let’s look at why ESG came to be and how the 10 Principles of ESG and UN Global Compact can be related to it.
How did ESG come about?
We commented what is ESG and that the acronym ESG arose from a provocation by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, through a report made by the UN Global Compact in partnership with the World Bank. All with the aim of making companies think about their impact on society and the environment.
Then, the UN proposed a way to integrate factors in defense of corporate sustainability and help companies to incorporate environmental and social factors. To that, she provided 10 principles of ESG – universal – that guide the Global Compact.
The objective was for companies to be able to guide themselves and fulfill their basic responsibilities towards the environment and society.
The 10 Principles of ESG and the UN Global Compact
The 10 Principles of the United Nations Global Compact 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.
They are divided in: Human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Let’s see:
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.
SOURCE: unglobalcompact.org
ESG: good practices for a more sustainable company
Practicing ESG-oriented actions in conjunction with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact can be a good strategy.
After all, a company that complies with these principles, better understands what its positive and negative impacts are and how it can be seen by society.
Implementing an ESG will not only help minimize the impact on the environment, it will also help combat the ills of society and corruption that occur today.
This helps improve the country, improves the economy and, of course, brings more results to companies!
