As a voluntary initiative, the United Nations Global Compact seeks wide participation from a diverse group of businesses. 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, culture and day-to-day operations;
• Is expected to publicly advocate the UN Global Compact and its 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:
  1. Implementing the Ten Principles and
  2. Efforts to support societal priorities.

The Communication on Progress (CoP) is a visible expression of your commitment to sustainability and your stakeholders can view it on your company’s profile page. Companies that fail to report or to meet the criteria over time may be removed from the initiative.

There are a number of ways that companies can take action to embed corporate sustainability into their DNA. Find out what you can do.

Participation in the UN Global Compact is open to any company that is serious about its commitment to work towards implementation of the UN Global Compact principles throughout its operations and sphere of influence, and to communicate on its progress.

Properly constituted (under prevailing national law) companies from any industry sector are eligible for participation, except those companies that meet the following exclusionary criteria:

• Subject to a UN sanction
• Listed on the UN Ineligible Vendors List for ethical reasons
• Derive revenue from the production, sale and/or transfer of antipersonnel landmines or cluster bombs
• Derive revenue from the production and/or manufacture of tobacco

The exclusionary criteria were updated on 12 September 2017. See here for more information.

As equal partners and important stakeholders, civil society and other non-business organisations can participate through a number of UN Global Compact engagement mechanisms, including policy dialogues, learning, Local Networks and partnership projects. In these areas, such organizations have a crucial role to play in helping to foster partnerships and produce substantive action. Non-business participants are also encouraged to commit their organization to the ten principles and to report on progress made within their organization. More information about non-business participation in the UN Global Compact.

No. The UN Global Compact is a purely voluntary initiative. It does not police or enforce the behaviour or actions of companies. Rather, it is designed to stimulate change and to promote corporate sustainability and encourage innovative solutions and partnerships.

No. The UN Global Compact views itself as complementing other voluntary initiatives and regulatory approaches by helping to establish the business case for human rights, labour standards, environmental stewardship and the fight against corruption. The UN Global Compact is a purely voluntary initiative designed to promote innovation in relation to corporate sustainability. Many of the existing standards support the principles of the UN Global Compact and are therefore are quite consistent with its overall objectives.

Corporate codes of conduct are extremely important and many companies have demonstrated leadership and positive change through their development and implementation. The UN Global Compact is not a code of conduct. Rather, it offers a policy framework for organizing and developing corporate sustainability strategies while offering a platform — based on universal principles — to encourage innovative initiatives and partnerships with civil society, Governments and other stakeholders

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative, not a formal membership organization. Upon joining the UN Global Compact, larger companies are required to make an annual contribution to support their engagement in the UN Global Compact. These contributions support both our global and country-level operations and, by agreement, are split between the global secretariat and Local Networks.

Global contributions are received, administered and distributed through the Foundation for the Global Compact – a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization – and are therefore tax deductible in many jurisdictions. Learn more about our Finances.

As of 1 January 2018, we began revising our criteria to accept applications from companies and organizations with fewer than ten direct employees.

Starting in January 2020, the UN Global Compact will accept all businesses and organizations that fulfill the criteria for participation, regardless of the number of employees. All participating companies and organizations are still required to have at least one direct employee and active operations.

The UN Global Compact applies the leadership principle. If the CEO of a company's global parent (holding, group, etc.) embraces the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact by sending a letter to the UN Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact will post only the name of the parent company on the global list assuming that all subsidiaries participate as well. Subsidiaries that wish to directly send a letter to the UN Secretary-General to underline their commitment, whether alongside the parent company or individually, will be listed as participants, and are invited to actively participate in our activities at the global and local level, including through becoming active in the Global Compact Local Network of their host country. To learn more about how subsidiaries can join the UN Global Compact see here.

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative, and signatories are free to end their participation at any time. Participants may decide to withdraw if they determine they are not in a position to continue their participation in the initiative or if they are unable to uphold their commitment to the Ten Principles. The intention to withdraw should be communicated in writing by an authorized representative of the participating company/organization and specify the reasons for ending the commitment.

As a result of the request to withdraw, the participant’s status on the UN Global Compact website will be updated to “de-listed” and the reason for delisting will indicate “Participant requested withdrawal”.

The UN Global Compact is not a performance or assessment tool. It does not provide a seal of approval, nor does it make judgments on performance.

Participants are expected to publish in their annual report or similar corporate report (e.g. sustainability report) a description of the ways in which they are supporting the UN Global Compact and its ten principles. This is known as the Communication on Progress. The UN Global Compact believes that this sort of openness and transparency encourages improved practices by participants.

Focused on learning, dialogue and partnerships, the UN Global Compact is more like a guide dog than a watch dog. However, the UN Global Compact has a mandatory disclosure framework. Business participants are required to communicate their progress to their own stakeholders on an annual basis and to post a copy on the UN Global Compact's website. Failing to communicate progress on an annual basis results in a downgrading of participant status from active to non communicating. Participants who do not communicate progress for two years in a row are expelled and the UN Global Compact publishes their name. Non-communicating companies can become active participants by posting their Communication on Progress (CoP). Companies that have been expelled need to reapply to join the UN Global Compact. Their application must be accompanied by their CoP.

The UN Global Compact has developed its own logo, which is used frequently in official documents and publications. The use of the UN Global Compact image is strictly regulated and the same restrictions apply to its use as the general United Nations logo. Those policies are contained in the UN Business Guidelines published by the UN.

In addition the UN Global Compact has adopted a set of integrity measures to safeguard the initiative and to avoid potential abuse. They require companies to communicate their progress to their own stakeholders on an annual basis and to post a copy on the UN Global Compact's website. Failing to communicate progress on an annual basis results in a downgrading of participant status from active to non communicating. Participants who do not communicate progress for two years in a row are expelled and the UN Global Compact publishes their name.

Since the labour principles are also internationally proclaimed human rights, companies can choose whether to report on progress on working conditions and other labour issues under the heading of human rights or labour.

The UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are two of the foremost voluntary initiatives that promote sustainable business practices. The initiatives complement each other in the goal of creating a more responsible and accountable corporate sector, yet are also distinct and unique. They have complementary engagement and accountability mechanisms. Together they define and enhance the relationship between businesses and international standards, in addition to providing a comprehensive model for responsible business practices today. Read more.

On 12 September 2017, the UN Global Compact instituted a new exclusion for tobacco companies . This decision recognizes that tobacco products are in direct conflict with UN goals, particularly with the right to public health, and undermines the achievement of SDG 3. This product-based exclusion is strictly limited to companies that produce and/or manufacture tobacco or are part of a joint venture, have a subsidiary or affiliate stake in a company that produces and/or manufactures tobacco. It does not apply to: sale and distribution of tobacco; production, sale and distribution of tobacco-related products (including filters, packaging, chemicals such as acetate used in tobacco filters); financing of tobacco or tobacco-related products through investment portfolios. See here for more information.

To see how this exclusionary criteria applies to subsidiaries please see here.