Communication on Progress

Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 07-Oct-2013
Time period
  • April 2012  –  March 2013
Files
Links
Format
  • Part of a sustainability or corporate (social) responsibility report
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Advanced level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
  • Meets all criteria for the GC Advanced level
Verification
and Transparency
  • How is the accuracy and completeness of information in your COP assessed by a credible third-party?

  • The COP describes any action(s) that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to have the credibility of the information in its COP externally assessed, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Information is reviewed by multiple stakeholders (e.g., representatives of groups prioritized in stakeholder analysis)

  • Information is assured by independent assurors (e.g., accounting or consulting firm) against recognized assurance standard (e.g., ISAE3000, AA1000AS, other national or industry-specific standard)

  • Information is reviewed by a panel of peers (e.g., members of the same industry, competitors, benchmarked leaders, others organized via Global Compact Local Network)

  • Information is assured by independent assurors (e.g., accounting or consulting firm) using their own proprietary methodology

  • Other established or emerging best practices

 
  • The COP incorporates the following high standards of transparency and disclosure:

  • Applies the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines or the GRI Standards

  • Applies elements of the International Integrated Reporting Framework

  • Provides information on the company’s profile and context of operation

Strategy, Governance
and Engagement
  • Criterion 1: The COP describes mainstreaming into corporate functions and business units

  • Place responsibility for execution of sustainability strategy in relevant corporate functions (procurement, government affairs, human resources, legal, etc) ensuring that no function is conflicting with company sustainability commitments and objectives

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Align strategies, goals and incentive structures of all business units and subsidiaries with corporate sustainability strategy

  • Assign responsibility for corporate sustainability implementation to an individual or group within each business unit and subsidiary

  • Design corporate sustainability strategy to leverage synergies between and among issue areas and to deal adequately with trade-offs

  • Ensure that different corporate functions coordinate closely to maximize performance and avoid unintended negative impacts

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 2: The COP describes value chain implementation

  • Communicate policies and expectations to suppliers and other relevant business partners

  • Implement monitoring and assurance mechanisms (e.g. audits/screenings) for compliance within the company’s sphere of influence

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Analyze each segment of the value chain carefully, both upstream and downstream, when mapping risks, opportunities and impacts

  • Undertake awareness-raising, training and other types of capacity building with suppliers and other business partners

  • Other established or emerging best practices

Human Rights
  • Criterion 4: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the human rights principles

  • Process to ensure that internationally recognized human rights are respected

  • On-going due diligence process that includes an assessment of actual and potential human rights impacts (BRE 2 + BRE 3 + ARE 2 + ARE 3)

  • Internal awareness-raising and training on human rights for management and employees

  • Operational-level grievance mechanisms for those potentially impacted by the company’s activities (BRE 4 + ARE 4)

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Allocation of responsibilities and accountability for addressing human rights impacts

  • Internal decision-making, budget and oversight for effective responses to human rights impacts

  • Processes to provide for or cooperate in the remediation of adverse human rights impacts that the company has caused or contributed to (BRE 3+ BRE 4 + ARE3 + ARE 4)

  • Process and programs in place to support human rights through: core business; strategic philanthropic/social investment; public policy engagement/advocacy; partnerships and/or other forms of collective action (BRE 6 + ARE 6)

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 3: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of human rights

  • Commitment to comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally recognized human rights, wherever the company operates (e.g., the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Guiding Principles on Human Rights) (BRE1 + ARE1)

  • Statement of policy publicly available and communicated internally and externally to all personnel, business partners and other relevant parties (BRE 1 + BRE 5 + ARE 1 + ARE 5)

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Integrated or stand-alone statement of policy expressing commitment to respect and support human rights approved at the most senior level of the company (BRE 1 + BRE5 + ARE 1 + ARE 5)

  • Statement of policy stipulating human rights expectations of personnel, business partners and other parties directly linked to operations, products or services (BRE 1)

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 5: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of human rights integration

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • System to monitor the effectiveness of human rights policies and implementation with quantitative and qualitative metrics, including in the supply chain (BRE3 + ARE3)

  • Monitoring draws from internal and external feedback, including affected stakeholders

  • Leadership review of monitoring and improvement results

  • Process to deal with incidents the company has caused or contributed to for internal and external stakeholders (BRE 4 + ARE 4)

  • Grievance mechanisms that are legitimate, accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, rights-compatible, a source of continuous learning, and based on engagement and dialogue (BRE4 + ARE4)

  • Outcomes of integration of the human rights principles

  • Other established or emerging best practices

Labour
  • Criterion 8: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of labour principles integration

  • System to track and measure performance based on standardized performance metrics

  • Dialogues with the representative organization of workers to regularly review progress made and jointly identify priorities for the future

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Audits or other steps to monitor and improve the working conditions of companies in the supply chain, in line with principles of international labour standards

  • Process to positively engage with the suppliers to address the challenges (i.e., partnership approach instead of corrective approach) through schemes to improve workplace practices

  • Outcomes of integration of the Labour principles

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 6: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of labour

  • Reference to principles of relevant international labour standards (ILO Conventions) and other normative international instruments in company policies

  • Inclusion of reference to the principles contained in the relevant international labour standards in contracts with suppliers and other relevant business partners

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Reflection on the relevance of the labour principles for the company

  • Written company policy to obey national labour law, respect principles of relevant international labour standards in worldwide company operations and engage in dialogue with representative organization of the workers (international, sectoral, national).

  • Specific commitments and Human Resources policies, in line with national development priorities or decent work priorities in the country of operation

  • Structural engagement with a global union, possibly via a Global Framework Agreement

  • Participation and leadership by employers’ organizations (international and national) to jointly address challenges related to labour standards in the countries of operation, possibly in a tripartite approach (business – trade union – government).

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 7: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the labour principles

  • Grievance mechanisms, communication channels and other procedures (e.g., whistleblower mechanisms) available for workers to report concerns, make suggestions or seek advice, designed and operated in line with the representative organization of workers

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Risk and impact assessments in the area of labour

  • Dialogue mechanism with trade unions to regularly discuss and review company progress in addressing labour standards

  • Allocation of responsibilities and accountability within the organization

  • Internal awareness-raising and training on the labour principles for management and employees

  • Active engagement with suppliers to address labour-related challenges

  • Other established or emerging best practices

Environment
  • Criterion 11: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for environmental stewardship

  • System to track and measure performance based on standardized performance metrics

  • Leadership review of monitoring and improvement results

  • Audits or other steps to monitor and improve the environmental performance of companies in the supply chain

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Process to deal with incidents

  • Outcomes of integration of the environmental principles

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 10: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the environmental principles

  • Environmental risk and impact assessments

  • Allocation of responsibilities and accountability within the organisation

  • Grievance mechanisms, communication channels and other procedures (e.g. whistleblower mechanisms) for reporting concerns or seeking advice regarding environmental impacts

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Assessments of lifecycle impact of products, ensuring environmentally sound management policies

  • Internal awareness-raising and training on environmental stewardship for management and employees

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 9: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of environmental stewardship

  • Reflection on the relevance of environmental stewardship for the company

  • Written company policy on environmental stewardship

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Reference to relevant international conventions and other international instruments (e.g. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development)

  • Inclusion of minimum environmental standards in contracts with suppliers and other relevant business partners

  • Specific commitments and goals for specified years

  • Other established or emerging best practices

Anti-Corruption
  • Criterion 13: The COP describes effective management systems to integrate the anti-corruption principle

  • Human Resources procedures supporting the anti-corruption commitment or policy, including communication to and training for all employees (B5 + D8)

  • Internal checks and balances to ensure consistency with the anti-corruption commitment (B6)

  • Management responsibility and accountability for implementation of the anti-corruption commitment or policy (D7)

  • Communications (whistleblowing) channels and follow-up mechanisms for reporting concerns or seeking advice (D9)

  • Internal accounting and auditing procedures related to anticorruption (D10)

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Support by the organization’s leadership for anti-corruption (B4)

  • Carrying out risk assessment of potential areas of corruption (D3)

  • Actions taken to encourage business partners to implement anti-corruption commitments (D6)

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 14: The COP describes effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the integration of anti-corruption

  • Leadership review of monitoring and improvement results (D12)

  • Process to deal with incidents (D13)

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Public legal cases regarding corruption (D14)

  • Use of independent external assurance of anti-corruption programmes (D15)

  • Outcomes of integration of the anti-corruption principle

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 12: The COP describes robust commitments, strategies or policies in the area of anti-corruption

  • Commitment to be in compliance with all relevant anti-corruption laws, including the implementation of procedures to know the law and monitor changes (B2)

  • Statement of support for international and regional legal frameworks, such as the UN Convention against Corruption (D2)

  • Policy on anti-corruption regarding business partners (D5)

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Publicly stated formal policy of zero-tolerance of corruption (D1)

  • Detailed policies for high-risk areas of corruption (D4)

  • Other established or emerging best practices

UN Goals and Issues
  • Criterion 15: The COP describes core business contributions to UN goals and issues

  • Adopt and modify operating procedures to maximize contribution to UN goals/issues

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Align core business strategy with one or more relevant UN goals/issues

  • Develop relevant products and services or design business models that contribute to UN goals/issues

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 16: The COP describes strategic social investments and philanthropy

  • Pursue social investments and philanthropic contributions that tie in with the core competencies or operating context of the company as an integrated part of its sustainability strategy

  • Coordinate efforts with other organizations and initiatives to amplify—and not negate or unnecessarily duplicate—the efforts of other contributors

  • Take responsibility for the intentional and unintentional effects of funding and have due regard for local customs, traditions, religions, and priorities of pertinent individuals and groups

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 18: The COP describes partnerships and collective action

  • Develop and implement partnership projects with public or private organizations (UN entities, government, NGOs, or other groups) on core business, social investments and/or advocacy

  • Join industry peers, UN entities and/or other stakeholders in initiatives contributing to solving common challenges and dilemmas at the global and/or local levels with an emphasis on initiatives extending the company’s positive impact on its value chain

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 17: The COP describes advocacy and public policy engagement

  • Publicly advocate the importance of action in relation to one or more UN goals/issues

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Commit company leaders to participate in key summits, conferences, and other important public policy interactions in relation to one or more UN goals/issues

  • Other established or emerging best practices

Governance
  • Criterion 19: The COP describes CEO commitment and leadership

  • CEO leads executive management team in development of corporate sustainability strategy, defining goals and overseeing implementation

  • CEO publicly delivers explicit statements and demonstrates personal leadership on sustainability and commitment to the UN Global Compact

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • CEO promotes initiatives to enhance sustainability of the company’s sector and leads development of industry standards

  • Make sustainability criteria and UN Global Compact principles part of goals and incentive schemes for CEO and executive management team

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 21: The COP describes stakeholder engagement

  • Define sustainability strategies, goals and policies in consultation with key stakeholders

  • Establish channels to engage with employees and other stakeholders to hear their ideas and address their concerns

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Publicly recognize responsibility for the company’s impacts on internal and external stakeholders

  • Consult stakeholders in dealing with implementation dilemmas and challenges and invite them to take active part in reviewing performance

  • Other established or emerging best practices

  • Criterion 20: The COP describes Board adoption and oversight

  • Board of Directors (or equivalent) assumes responsibility and oversight for long-term corporate sustainability strategy and performance

  • Any relevant policies, procedures, and activities that the company plans to undertake by its next COP to fulfill this criterion, including goals, timelines, metrics, and responsible staff

  • Board establishes, where permissible, a committee or assigns an individual board member with responsibility for corporate sustainability.

  • Board (or committee), where permissible, approves formal reporting on corporate sustainability (Communication on Progress)

  • Other established or emerging best practices