Strong rule of law is essential as a foundation for economic and social development. The Framework seeks to advance the rule of law by engaging responsible business to support the building and strengthening of legal frameworks and accountable institutions – serving as a complement to, not substitute for, government action.

Showcases industry-specific examples and ideas for corporate action related to the SDGs. Presented in a series of publications, each matrix highlights bold pursuits and decisions made by diverse companies for each SDG.

Helps investors to understand why and how to engage companies on their tax practices, thus promoting corporate tax responsibility: a more responsible corporate approach to tax practices, including better disclosure and transparency, good governance and appropriate management of tax-related risks.

The Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative is a peer-to-peer learning platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, regulators, and companies, can enhance corporate transparency – and ultimately performance – on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment. Since 2012, several other leading exchanges have joined the group of SSE Partner Exchanges. UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, the PRI and UNEP-FI, as the core organizer of the SSE Initiative, also committed to supporting stock exchanges in this effort. The SSE initiative invites exchanges globally to become a Partner Stock Exchange within the SSE by making a voluntary public commitment to promote improved ESG disclosure and performance among listed companies. http://www.sseinitiative.org

With less than a third of stock exchanges currently providing written guidance to companies on ESG reporting, an information gap has emerged, preventing investors and other stakeholders from being able to access all of the information necessary to effectively evaluate listed companies. This is a resource for exchanges to ensure all markets provide reporting guidance to companies on the inclusion of ESG factors.

Initially developed in 2000 as a common framework for UN-Business collaboration, the Guidelines apply to the UN Secretariat as well as separately administered organs, Funds and Programmes. The Guidelines, developed in 2000, revised and reissued in 2009, and further revised in 2015, provided a framework on a common and systemic approach to partnerships between the Organization and the business sector, placing greater emphasis on transparency, coherence, impact, accountability and due diligence.

Examines the sector’s impact in relation to the UN Global Compact’s four focus areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption and identifies the most critical issues facing companies with a stake in land, real estate and construction in relation to the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles and the SDGs. The aim of the resource is to encourage companies to think holistically about the environmental and social impact of their business activities and strategic investment decisions, providing a practice-orientated roadmap for the sector and its clients through: (1) A toolbox of SDG-related and wider UN resources (2) Real life case studies showcasing successful SDG implementation (3) A Self-Assessment Checklist mapping 15 sectoral issues and corresponding 15 action items to individual Principles and SDG indicators

Marking the UN Global Compact’s 15th anniversary, Global Compact +15 brought business and civil society to the United Nations to show how the private sector is taking action and partnering to advance societal priorities, with an emphasis on the United Nations global agenda for sustainable development (i.e. the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs). The General Assembly Session was a unique gathering of all participants and special guests in the UN General Assembly Hall. Together participants aimed to demonstrate to Governments the private sector’s critical role in solving our world’s greatest challenges and show how the Global Compact’s work is at the heart of the United Nations agenda.

The UN Global Compact, in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), launched the Business Action Pledge in Response to the Refugee Crisis. The pledge is a call to companies and other stakeholders to take action to diminish the suffering of people forced to flee conflict and support solutions for the resulting widespread societal disruption. Companies with operations or supply chains in countries that are producing, transiting and receiving refugees are called upon to demonstrate leadership by taking action – as an individual company or in partnership with others. This webinar explores the ways that companies can best support efforts, based on their own assets and capabilities.

Provides guidance on how businesses and business schools can collaborate to co-create solutions for sustainability challenges. The toolkit and brochure feature inspiring examples of partnerships, categorized under five themes: influencing, training, collaborating, researching and consulting.

Report from a multi-stakeholder meeting convened on 11 December 2014 to highlight successful interventions by business in support of Ebola response, identify lessons learned, and explore how success can be replicated. The Report outlines the role of business in long-term regional recovery, and considers how to foster more effective collaboration across sectors to face future global public health challenges.

A compilation of good practices gathered from online searches or submitted by UN Global Compact participants in response to our call to share actions and initiatives that their companies are undertaking to respect and support children’s rights.