Ewa Staworzynska Archives

April 2015 USCIB Corporate Responsibility Committee Meeting

Published on April 10, 2015

DCDATE: Wednesday, April 15, 2015

TIME: 9:00 am – 5:30 pm

LOCATION: Baker & McKenzie LLP

White House Conference Room

815 Connecticut Ave NW #900

Washington, DC 20006

 

 

9:00 – 9:15  Welcome & Announcements – Laura Chapman Rubbo, Chair (The Walt Disney Company)

 

9:15 – 9:30  USCIB by the Numbers – a brief presentation of data on USCIB members’ CSR reporting (in the aggregate)

 

9:30 – 10:15  Overview of Developments –the neest reporting initiatives, regulatory frameworks and tools

  • European Legislation:
    • New Non-financial Reporting Disclosure Mandate in The EU
    • French bill on the duty of care in relation to subsidiaries and subcontractors of French companies

Additional background:  newest empirical research on human rights implementation by companies

 

10:15 – 10:30  Coffee Break

 

10:30 – 12:20  Roundtable of Experts on Corporate Sustainability Reporting – a variety of investment-side analysts and market players reflect on how CSR reporting is analyzed, quantified, ranked and used in investment decisions – and whether there is just too much of it!

 

12:30 – 1:30  Meet the Author: John Morrison, “The Social License to Operate” (via video conference)

 

1:45 – 2:20  Update on the UN Sustainable Development Goals Process
& Financing for Development – Tam Nguyen (Bechtel), Brian Lowery (Monsanto) and Ariel Meyerstein (USCIB

 

2:20 – 2:45  USCIB’s Business for Post-2015 Website & ways to get involved in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda – Ariel Meyerstein (USCIB)

 

2:45 – 3:15  IPIECA’s Operational Grievance Mechanisms Report – Gabriella Rigg Herzog  (Hess Corp.) (guidance on implementation drawing on seven pilot projects and other shared learning)

 

3:15 – 4:00  Update on Access to Remedy Initiatives – Matthias Thorns (International Organization of Employers)

  • Office of the High Commissioner Access to Domestic Remedy  Work Plan
  • ABA White Paper on the proposed international legally binding instrument on business and human rights

 

4:00 – 4:15  Coffee Break

 

4:15 – 4:30  Update on OECD Responsible Business Conduct Proactive Agenda Projects and other OECD Initiatives – Laura Chapman Rubbo (The Walt Disney Company) & Ariel Meyerstein (USCIB)

 

4:30 – 5:30  Briefing and Strategy Session on US National Action Plan on
Responsible Business Conduct – Laura Chapman Rubbo (The Walt Disney Company) & Tam Nguyen (Bechtel)

  • New York Consultation on the U.S. National Action Plan Breakout Session Summaries
  • Washington DC Consultation on the U.S. National Action Plan Agenda

IOE: Big Think on Jobs Must Address Structural Reforms

Published on April 3, 2015

In his keynote address to the 2015 Economic and Social Council Integration Segment in New York on Monday, 30 March, International Organization of Employers (IOE) President Daniel Funes de Rioja underlined the urgency in addressing structural reforms and labor-market oriented training for increasing job opportunities, particularly for young people.

The opening panel, “The ‘Big Think’ on Jobs and Growth,” provided an overview of the current global economy within which an effective framework could be established for inclusive and balanced growth, with full employment as a macroeconomic policy objective.

While welcoming the successful labor market reforms undertaken by some governments, the IOE president called for the removal of regulatory barriers. He noted that greater workplace flexibility resulted in a win-win situation for both companies and the individuals they employed, with positive impacts on productivity, quality of work and employee retention.

Workplace flexibility also enhances the transition of enterprises from the informal to the formal economy, with higher employment rates being recorded in countries where companies, particularly SMEs, could adapt quickly to a rapidly changing world, Funes noted.

On the topic of ensuring adequate training systems, Funes said, “If there is a silver bullet to address youth unemployment, then it is high quality apprenticeship systems.”  Despite this, IOE research had found that in many countries there were still significant skills mismatches.

To address this challenge, USCIB’s global network initiated the Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN), launched to promote exchanges of experience and best practice in the area of training and work-readiness programs around the globe.

Funes highlighted the value of national GAN networks, such as those recently launched by the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK). He urged governments to support such initiatives by enabling the institutional and regulatory environment for companies to engage in offering apprenticeships, including by involving companies and employers’ organizations in the design and implementation of VET systems, and by promoting excellence in STEM subjects in schools.

Corporate Governance Spotlighted in G20 Istanbul Forum

Published on April 3, 2015

The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance are being revised with a view to supporting sound financial markets that serve the real economy. The Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD has actively contributed to the discussions and participated in a series of consultations over the last year. On 10 April, the OECD and the G20 are organizing a forum to further discuss the content and the direction of the review of the OECD Principles. It is intended to present the revised Principles at the meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in September 2015 for transmission to the G20 Summit.

The forum will address two specific issues that are of crucial importance to private sector growth: the institutional capacity of small and medium-sized companies to grow and capital market development in emerging market economies. Dan Konigsburg of Deloitte, chair of the BIAC Task Force on Corporate Governance, will represent BIAC as a speaker on the first panel on “Having Finance Serve the Real Economy: Towards New OECD Principles of Corporate Governance.”

USCIB Talks Sustainable Development at Brookings Panel

Published on March 30, 2015

4990_image002The United Nations’ Post-2015 Development Agenda is expected to reframe the global conversation around economic and social development – and by extension corporate responsibility – for the next 15 years, applying to all UN member states and potentially touching upon almost every aspect of human existence.

In the run-up to the agenda and the specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will be finalized by the UN this September, USCIB has played a leading role in making the SDG negotiations accessible to business and showcasing business contributions to sustainable development through the lens of the SDGs in its advocacy with UN Member States.

As part of its efforts to showcase the private sector’s role in the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, USCIB represented business at a day-long event of high-level policy discussions at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. about “Governance Innovations to implement the Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” The conference is an opportunity to revisit the concepts on multi-stakeholder governance introduced by the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy, which formally concluded in 2008.

Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, was a featured speaker on a panel on “National Consultation Processes for Multi-stakeholder Engagement and National Accountability.” The panel addressed how to engage domestic stakeholders to adapt the SDGs to national contexts and to develop national strategies for implementing the SDGs, as well as how to make national data accessible for domestic accountability and to create space for civic engagement to support the goals’ implementation.

Meyerstein noted that a significant accomplishment of the SDG process thus far was the level of buy-in they have generated in contrast to the UN’s earlier Millennium Development Goals, which were not adopted through a similarly broad consultative process with all Member States or the private sector.  What remains to be achieved, he said, is “how to put nationally-based governance frameworks in place that will encourage multi-stakeholder partnerships to help drive implementation and true national ownership and collaboration in achieving the SDGs.”

Other panelists included Nancy Lee (Millennium Challenge Corporation), Robert Orr (Dean of the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland) and Paul O’Brien (Oxfam).

From March 23 to 27, the UN began a round of SDG negotiations on goals and targets, including discussions on indicators and metrics. As the UN works to finalize the goals by September 2015, USCIB will continue to advocate for business to be consulted and relied upon as a partner in planning and implementing sustainable development strategies both globally and on the national level.

Putting ALL Our Minds to Work: Women and Entrepreneurship

Published on March 23, 2015

4982_image002Entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic development and growth, and a facilitator of empowerment for women around the world. For the past several years, USCIB and BIAC have supported the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD) Gender Initiative, which promotes public and private sector collaboration with the aim of removing persistent obstacles to gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship as well as measuring and monitoring the progress in achieving this goal together.

USCIB has contributed to two workshops and three reports on women’s empowerment published and organized by BIAC, the most recent of which, “Putting ALL Our Ideas to Work: Women and Entrepreneurship,” was unveiled on March 23 at an OECD gender initiative meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“Our economies cannot afford to miss out on the contributions of talented women entrepreneurs,” wrote Bernhard Welschke, BIAC’s secretary general, in the report’s preface. “BIAC welcomes OECD efforts to mainstream gender equality across various aspects of its work.”

Read the report.

The new report on entrepreneurship offers practical experience to policymakers in identifying best practices, addressing obstacles and implementing policies that will help unleash the potential for women’s entrepreneurship activities. Access to capital remains the biggest obstacle for women entrepreneurs, who own between one fourth and one third of all the world’s businesses.

The report also notes that many multinational corporations understand well the business and economic case for greater participation of women in the workforce and have introduced programs aimed at supporting women-owned businesses and women entrepreneurs. Public policies that foster women entrepreneurs are also key to increasing their numbers and contributing to their success. Regulatory and legal frameworks should not raise barriers to women.

Phil O’Reilly, BIAC’s chairman, unveiled the report at a meeting of the OECD Southeast Asia Gender Initiative. He spoke at a panel about the role gender plays in Southeast Asian businesses, which addressed the challenges and opportunities of achieving gender equality of opportunity in one of the world’s most dynamic regions.

Economist Report: Human Rights are a Matter for Businesses

Published on March 17, 2015

4981_image002With the support of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and other business organizations, the Economist Intelligence Unit published a report on the intersection of global business and the protection of human rights. “The Road from Principles to Practice: Today’s Challenges for Business in Respecting Human Rights” evaluates the state of play in business and human rights since the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011.

The report shows that 83 percent of executives surveyed from a wide variety of sectors believe that human rights are a matter for businesses, not just for governments. 71 percent also said that their company’s responsibility to respect human rights goes beyond “obedience to local laws.”

While this response suggests corporate attitudes are evolving quickly, only 22 percent say they have a publicly available human rights policy in some form, and 44 percent say that human rights are an issue on which CEOs take the lead. The most common barriers to progress, according to the respondents, are lack of understanding of their company’s responsibilities and lack of training and education for employees.

The report also shows that companies do not see a business case – focused on immediate costs and benefits – for human rights, but rather see respecting human rights as helpful in building good relationships with local communities, protecting the company brand and reputation, and serving ethical considerations.

The study also draws on in-depth interviews conducted with Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights at The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee; John Ruggie, former UN Secretary-General’s special representative on business and human rights; Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom and other experts from civil society, human rights and business organizations.

 

Bringing Down the Barriers: Women, Business and the Rule of Law

Published on March 13, 2015
L-R: Cindy Braddon (McGraw Hill Financial), Judit Arenas (IDLO) Pilar Ramos (MasterCard) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)
L-R: Cindy Braddon (McGraw Hill Financial) [now S&P Global], Judit Arenas (IDLO) Pilar Ramos (MasterCard) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)
The global economy has much to gain from the full empowerment of women. As the world’s most underutilized resource, women are essential to increasing economic growth, establishing just societies, improving quality of life for families and communities and boosting the profitability of enterprises.

Around the world, too many laws still discriminate on the basis of gender, with dramatic consequences on women’s ability to contribute to economic growth. To address this major barrier to women’s empowerment, USCIB partnered with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the Global Compact, the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Bank Group to organize an event titled “Bringing Down the Barriers: Women, Business and the Rule of Law,” with the support of the permanent missions of Romania and Paraguay to the United Nations. This event was held in parallel with the UN meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS) and in support of the 2014 World Bank report on Women, Business and the Law, which evaluated the economic impacts of gender discrimination laws across the world.

USCIB’s Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg gave opening remarks at the breakfast event, explaining that in some countries women lack the legal status to attain an ID, establish a contract, access finance, represent themselves in legal cases, or even hold property in their own name. Such discrimination places major obstacles to economic and social development.

“There can be no development when you ignore 50 percent of the population,” Goldberg said.

Speakers and panelists came together to discuss these barriers and how governments can address them. Other speakers included:

  • Judit Arenas, director, external relations Deputy Permanent Observer, International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
  • Cindy Braddon, vice president of international affairs at McGraw Hill Financial [now S&P Global] and ICC World Businesswomen
  • Ioana Cesacu, secretary of state, Department for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Protection and Elderly, Romania
  • Sarah Iqbal, program manager, Women, Business and the Law Project, World Bank Group;
  • Pilar Ramos, vice president, Global Public Policy & Regulatory Strategy Counsel, MasterCard Worldwide

The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law found that women in marriages are required to give up certain rights by law and consequently lack the ability to make their own legal decisions, limiting their economic opportunities. The report also studied the evolution of these restrictions in countries over the past 50 years. Over half these obstacles have been removed, but in 90 percent of the 143 countries surveyed, at least one legal barrier remains, so more needs to be done to achieve gender equality.

Significantly, the report provides evidence to counter the myth that expanding access to the work force for women necessarily reduces employment for men.  To the contrary, the report shows that men’s access to employment was unchanged by increases in women’s participation.

Disney’s Rubbo to Chair USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Published on February 10, 2015
Laura Chapman Rubbo (Disney)
Laura Chapman Rubbo (Disney)

USICB is pleased to announce the appointment of Laura Chapman Rubbo of The Walt Disney Company as the new chair of its Corporate Responsibility Committee. Rubbo has served as co-vice chair of the committee since 2013.

Rubbo, a director in Disney’s international labor standards department, brings 20 years of experience in corporate social responsibility, international labor standards, and business and human rights.

“USCIB has played a critical role in helping Disney understand and respond to evolving expectations of global business in the corporate responsibility and human rights arena,” Rubbo said. “We are honored to take a more active role in contributing to the corporate responsibility conversation with USCIB, its members, international institutions and the broader stakeholder community.”

Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, welcomed Rubbo’s leadership. “We are thrilled to have Laura take the helm of the Corporate Responsibility Committee,” he said. “Her years of experience in the CSR space and tremendous energy will help strengthen our committee’s work promoting the business perspective on corporate responsibility.”

Rubbo was part of the United States delegation to the International Labor Organization’s 2014 International Labor Conference, and she is a frequent speaker at CSR-related events.

The next meeting of USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee takes place on April 15 in Washington, D.C. Please contact Rachel Spence (rspence@uscib.org) for more information or to register.

USCIB Adds Its Voice to White House Forum on Human Trafficking

Published on February 3, 2015
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the White House Forum on Combating Human Trafficking in Supply Chains at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on January 29, 2015. (State Department photo)
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the White House Forum on Combating Human Trafficking in Supply Chains at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on January 29, 2015. (State Department photo)

Marking the end of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, USCIB staff and members took part in a January 29 White House forum on combating human trafficking in supply chains, to address the pernicious incidences of labor trafficking around the world. The Obama administration committed to an agenda to combat human trafficking in 2012, and USCIB supports the administration’s stance and agrees that forceful labor recruitment has no place in business.

Ariel Meyerstein, USCIB’s vice president for labor affairs, corporate responsibility and corporate governance, attended the forum along with other representatives from the private sector, nongovernmental organizations and the U.S. government to discuss how all stakeholders can work together to eliminate trafficking in federal contracts and in private-sector supply chains.

Meyerstein noted that Secretary of State John Kerry “spoke eloquently on the moral imperative on all of us to work towards ensuring that no human being could ever own another person’s freedom.”

USCIB member representatives – including Bob Mitchell, global manager for supply chain responsibility at Hewlett-Packard and Wesley Wilson, senior director of responsible sourcing at Wal-Mart – spoke on a panel addressing “Private Sector Strategies to Combat Human Trafficking in Supply Chains.” The panelists shared their companies’ best practices for combating human trafficking, which included directly employing and paying all workers, working with foreign governments to prevent labor trafficking and implementing fair and transparent labor standards.

When asked what more could be done by the U.S. government to reinforce and amplify the work they are doing, both Mitchell and Wilson encouraged the U.S. government to engage bilaterally with other countries to impress upon them how seriously the U.S. government and U.S. businesses take the issue and to develop the prevention and enforcement capacities in other jurisdictions to complement private sector efforts.

Secretary Kerry also delivered remarks at the forum and presented the 2015 Presidential Award for Extraordinary Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program.

Last week the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, the body responsible for overseeing U.S. government procurement, published updates about new safeguards designed to strengthen protections against trafficking in federal contracts. These new rules, modeled on successful private sector practices, prohibit federal contractors from charging employees recruitment fees or using misleading or fraudulent recruitment practices, require contractors and subcontractors performing work valued at over $500,000 outside the United States to develop and maintain a compliance plan, and to certify that, to the best of their knowledge, neither they nor any of their subcontractors has engaged in trafficking-related activities.

USCIB has been active in the corporate responsibility space, having recently co-hosted a dialogue on responsible business conduct as part of President Obama’s plan to implement the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and will continue to work with the federal government and other stakeholders to eliminate human trafficking in supply chains.

More on the White House website.

What Skills do Corporate Directors Need?

Published on February 3, 2015

Good governance starts and is driven from the top. It is therefore essential that companies have an effective board. The responsibilities of the board are diverse and require a balanced team of directors with the right skills sets. As the OECD Corporate Governance Principles are being updated, and as they apply to a wider variety of ownership structures including majority-controlled and state-owned firms across the world, expectations of directors and their skills is likely to increase as well. To meet these expectations, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD will organize a roundtable on director skills for effective corporate governance to encourage an exchange on how to obtain and continually enhance the optimal mix of director skills.

The roundtable will take place at the OECD headquarters in Paris on February 17 and will bring together key business experts from OECD and non-OECD countries for a discussion with OECD member countries and the OECD corporate governance secretariat. It will take place back-to-back with the consultation on the OECD Corporate Governance on February 19. BIAC’s most recent comments on the Principles are available on the BIAC website.