The United Nations Global Compact–Accenture CEO Study offers a candid look at perspectives of more than 2,600 CEOs across 128 countries and 18 industries at the urgent opportunities and challenges for leaders to contribute to the 2023 Agenda and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Fifty global executives convened during the UN General Assembly’s week of high-level debates, to candidly share corporate approaches to converging global crises. This business-to-business discussion focused on complex dilemmas related to strengthening peace, justice, and strong institutions (Sustainable Development Goal 16). Discussion centered around three questions: 1. How are you managing increased pressure to take a stand on political and social issues? 2. How are you weighing the cost of doing something, versus the cost of doing nothing? 3. How can lobbying be part of an accountability framework regarding corporate actions in these areas? This document summarizes high-level take-aways.

The CoP questionnaire focuses on five disclosure areas (governance, human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption) and is designed to help participating companies monitor performance across the Ten Principles. There will be no scoring or ranking associated with the CoP questionnaire. Rather, the objective is to create transparency and enable progress.

A helpful resource providing question rationale and guidance, linked reporting references, and a glossary of terms to assist in the completion of the enhanced CoP questionnaire.

The ILO Helpdesk is a service from the International Labour Organization that provides a one-stop-shop to help company managers and workers understand the application of international labour standards.

The SDG Ambition Benchmark Reference Sheets provide illustrative details regarding the steps to integrate each of the SDG Ambition Benchmarks into a company’s business systems, as well as the key design decisions required to engage technology partners.  Access the 10 reference sheets by filling out the form below. 

Every year on 8 March, many companies take the occasion of International Women’s Day (IWD) to celebrate women in their workforce. This document aims to provide recommendations on how to meaningfully leverage IWD to advance gender equality and move the needle for women and girls. These recommendations are applicable for every day.

A just transition to a net zero future is an important undertaking, requiring bold actions from all parties — and effort from corporates is definitely an important one. The UN Global Compact helps businesses to align with its Ten Principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has published this whitepaper to plot a roadmap for corporates to reach net zero, facilitating the private sector to play its role in the pathway.

The UN Global Compact partnered with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on a Business Guide to urgently respond to Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis. The Guide provides concrete action for businesses to support the Secretary-General’s three-month Flash Appeal for people in Ukraine, and a Regional Refugee Response Plan for the situation outside, under the leadership of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

This report examines the aggregate results of companies using the Women's Empowerment Principles Gender Gap Analysis Tool with an aim to provide insights on global and regional corporate performance on gender equality and showcase the efforts of partners and other stakeholders to drive women's empowerment around the world. The report concludes that while some progress has been made on advancing gender equality across regions and across issues, there is a need for more accelerated, urgent, impactful action across the board. This report is available in English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese.

SMEs are the engine of private sector growth, both in developing and developed economies, and are critical to the fulfilment of the Global Goals. Their per capita contribution may be smaller than that of larger firms, but the cumulative impact of SMEs is significant. The following vision articulates the ambition of fostering meaningful engagement by the UN Global Compact with SMEs at a global scale via the Local Networks. It serves as an aspirational long-term vision, linked to the corporate strategy of the UN Global Compact, towards which this strategic plan as well as future iterations will be directed.

  This guide is a collection of best practices, common challenges, solutions and experiences from the seafood sector to support companies to set a science-based emission reduction target with the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). As the seafood sector works towards a low carbon and sustainable future, collective action across geographies and supply chains will be key to reaching these goals.