The United Nations Global Compact: Achievements, Trends and Challenges

by Edited by Andreas Rasche , Georg Kell , Foreword by Ban Ki-moon

• ISBN13: 9780521145534
• ISBN10: 0521145538
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The United Nations Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative that encourages businesses to support ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. It is the world's largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative with more than 7,500 business and non-business participants in over 130 countries. This book reviews the first ten years of the Compact's existence (2000-2010) by presenting exclusively commissioned chapters from well-known scholars, practitioners from the business world and civil society, and Global Compact staff. They reflect on what the Global Compact has achieved, what trends it may have to respond to, and what challenges are ahead. The book contains not only up-to-date reflections but also debates recent changes to the structure of the Compact, including the Communication on Progress policy, the role of Global Compact Local Networks, and the role of emerging specialized initiatives.

Author Biography

Andreas Rasche is Assistant Professor of Business in Society at Warwick Business school and, since 2007, has worked as a consultant to the United Nations Global Compact office in New York. He received his Ph.D. in strategic Management and corporate Responsibility from the European Business School, Germany. His research focuses on global governance and transnational organizational regulation in the context of contested global issues. He has published widely in leading international journals on corporate responsibility and has guest-edited special issues of various journals.
Georg Kell is the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact. His career with the United Nations began in 1987 at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. in 1997, Mr Kell joined the office of the UN Secretary-General in New York, where he spearheaded the development of new strategies to enhance private sector engagement with the work of the United Nations. As one of the Global Compact's key architects, he has led the initiative since its launch in 2000. A native of Germany, he holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. viii
List of tables	p. x
List of boxes	p. xi
List of abbreviations	p. xii
List of contributors	p. xvii
Acknowledgements	p. xxvii
Foreword UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon	p. xxviii
Why This Book Matters! Eric Cornuel	p. xxix
The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact	p. xxxi
Introduction: The United Nations Global Compact-retrospect and Prospect	p. 1
Achievements, trends and challenges: reflections on the Principles	p. 21
Making sense of the United Nations Global Compact human rights principles	p. 23
The promise of the United Nations Global Compact: a trade union perspective on the labour principles	p. 44
The United Nations Global Compact Environmental Principles: Achievements, trends and Challenges	p. 59
'Caring for Climate': the Business Leadership Platform	p. 80
Anti-corruption: challenges and trends	p. 101
Participants and engagment mechanisms	p. 113
Implementing the United Nations Global Compact	p. 115
Academic institutions and the United Nations Global Compact: the Principles for Responsible Management Education	p. 144
Corporate responsibility and the Business school agenda	p. 161
NGOs and the United Nations Global Compact: the link between civil society and corporations	p. 182
Financial markets and the United Nations Global Compact: the Principles for Responsible Investment	p. 195
Learning from the Roundtables on the Sustainable Enterprise Economy: the United Nations Global Compact and the next ten years	p. 215
The United Nations Global Compact as a learning approach	p. 234
Governance and Communication on Progress	p. 249
The United Nations Global Compact's governance framwork and integrity measures	p. 251
The United Nations Global Compact Communications on Progress policy: Origin, trends and challenges	p. 265
COP reporting in action: the Case of Petrobras	p. 281
The United Nations Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative	p. 293
Local Networks: the emerging global-local link	p. 315
Building the United Nations Global Compact Local Network Model: history and highlights	p. 317
The United Nations Global Compact as a Network of Networks	p. 340
Running a Global Compact Local Network: insights from the experience in Germany	p. 355
Building corporate citizenship through the United Nations Global Compact: contributions and lessons learned from the Argentinean Local Network	p. 370
Concluding remarks: from a alleviating the negative impacts of globalization to transforming markets	p. 386
Glossary	p. 397
Bibliography	p. 403
Index	p. 423
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