USCIB Nominates First-Ever Business Representative for UNEP High Level Scientific Advisory Panel

Published on February 20, 2015

$RE1GIZG — Dr. Neil C. Hawkins (Dow Chemical)

Following USCIB’s nomination, Dr. Neil C. Hawkins, corporate vice president for sustainability at The Dow Chemical Company, has been named to serve as the first business and industry representative to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) newly created Global Environment Outlook (GEO) High Level Advisory Group.

The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is an international consultative scientific and expert process that conducts integrated environmental assessments and reports on the state, trends and outlooks of the environment. GEO reports present an annual “all of planet” integrated assessment of ecosystems by scientists and environmental experts; its purpose is to inform policymakers and help set priorities for international cooperation on environmental challenges.

The upcoming GEO-6, to be launched in mid-2017, will build upon regional assessment processes and create a comprehensive picture of the environmental factors contributing to human well-being, accompanied by an analysis of policies leading to greater attainment of global environmental objectives and goals, including the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)s. The assessment will lay the foundation for continued socio-environmental assessments across relevant scales, with a thematic as well as an integrated focus, enabling and informing societal transitions and the tracking of SDG targets and goals as well as previously agreed internationally environmental goals. The enhanced policy analysis in GEO-6 will be aimed at assisting member states to position themselves on the most effective pathways for transitions towards a sustainable future. The GEO will bring together representatives from the U.S. and other national governments with experts representing a broad range of stakeholder constituencies.

Dr. Hawkins is the only business representative with a seat on this policy-driving panel.

“We’re thrilled to support Neil in this role on behalf of business writ large,” said Norine Kennedy, USCIB’s vice president for strategic international engagement, energy and environment. “His involvement in the GEO assessment process will contribute to a more multi-dimensional assessment of planetary eco-systems and human impacts from a business perspective, and shed light on how the private sector can help deploy innovative solutions.”

In his global role as corporate vice president of sustainability at Dow, Hawkins drives strategy and implementation for Dow’s sustainability programs, including the enterprise-wide 2015 Sustainability Goals. He is a recognized practitioner and thought leader on sustainability in the international business community.

Hawkins’s nomination to UNEP’s GEO6 High Level Advisory Group is the most recent development in USCIB’s engagement with UNEP and its UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, as well as USCIB’s inputs to previous GEO reports.

For more information on UNEP GEO, please see

http://www.unep.org/geo/

Investment, Yes! But Let’s Be Consistent

Published on February 19, 2015

By Shaun Donnelly

Foreign investment in the U.S. can create jobs, increase exports, strengthen U.S. competitiveness, give American consumers increased choices, and bolster tax revenues at the local, state, and federal level. But let’s not ignore the other side of the FDI coin, outward FDI by U.S.-based companies, writes Shaun Donnelly in Investment Policy Central.

Read the full post: http://www.investmentpolicycentral.com/content/investment-yes-let%E2%80%99s-be-consistent

Investment Protection In TTIP: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Published on February 19, 2015

By Eva Hampl

The EU Commission finally released its report on the online public consultation on investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, but it is disappointing that negotiations on an investment chapter in TTIP have yet to resume, writes Eva Hampl in Investment Policy Central.

Read the full post: http://www.investmentpolicycentral.com/content/investment-protection-ttip-one-step-forward-two-steps-back

Record Number of Projects Submitted to ICC World Chambers Competition

Published on February 17, 2015

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) World Chambers Federation (WCF) has received a record number of innovation and best practice projects for the World Chambers Competition, a prominent feature of the ICC WCF 9th World Chambers Congress to be held in Torino, Italy in June. WCF is a specialized division of ICC encompassing chambers of commerce from every region of the world.

Open to more than 12,000 chambers across all five continents, the competition has received 80 applications from 40 countries for the 2015 edition, making this year’s event the biggest since its launch in 2003 in Quebec City.

“The World Chambers Competition is more than just an awards program. It is a unique forum to showcase the ingenuity behind cutting-edge business projects undertaken by small- and medium-sized enterprises that are part of chambers of commerce worldwide,” said Rona Yircali, Honorary Chair of the ICC World Chambers Federation and Chair of the Competition jury.

“The competition is an unparalleled opportunity to raise the profile of these ground-breaking projects and give them significant and much deserved visibility in the world business community,” Mr Yircali said.

The 9th World Chambers Congress, taking place from 10-12 June in Torino, Italy is the largest global gathering for chambers of commerce. Held every two years in a different region of the world, the Congress is the only international forum for chamber leaders to share best-practice experiences, exchange insights, develop networks, address the latest business issues affecting their communities and learn about new areas of innovation from other chambers around the world.

US Business Groups Add To Calls For DTA Approvals

Published on February 14, 2015

Tax News – February 24, 2015

USCIB joined several other business organizations in urging Congressional action on pending bilateral double taxation agreements (DTAs) and protocols.

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Shaping the Future of the Internet

Published on February 13, 2015

Conference to Spotlight Growth and Inclusion in the Digital Economy

Washington, D.C., February 11, 2015 – The Internet forms a crucial pillar of the world’s economic infrastructure, and advancements in information and communications technology (ICT) have extraordinary potential to raise living standards across the world. Given recent developments in online privacy, cyber-security and freedom on a global scale, what are the policies that can best harness the transformational power of the Internet to create economic opportunity, address social challenges and include everyone in the digital economy?

These questions will be addressed at an upcoming conference organized by the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), “Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Digital Economy: The OECD Evidence and Practice Base,” on today’s most pressing Internet policy questions for an audience of global business leaders and government officials. This second annual conference, which takes place March 10 at the Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center in Washington, D.C., is being presented by the United States Council Foundation, USCIB’s educational arm, along with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.

“It’s important for both business and government to recognize the unique and important role that the OECD has played in conducting evidence-based research and developing related policy recommendations aimed at enabling all sectors to access the economic and social benefits provided by ICTs and Internet-enabled innovation,” said Joseph Alhadeff, vice president of global public policy and chief privacy strategist, Oracle Corporation. Alhadeff chairs BIAC’s Committee on Digital Economy Policy. In this capacity has been a leading advocate for global ICT interests in OECD discussions.

The full-day conference will feature a strong lineup of policymakers and thought leaders from around the world, including:

Andrew Wyckoff, director of the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (STI)
Ambassador Daniel Sepulveda, deputy assistant secretary and U.S. coordinator for international communications and information policy, U.S. Department of State
Houlin Zhao, secretary general, International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Christopher Painter, S. Department of State coordinator for cyber issues
Kathryn Brown, president and CEO, Internet Society (ISOC)

Discussions will focus on the OECD’s broad stakeholder participation in Internet policy-making, enabling the benefits of digital innovation across all sectors, promoting trade, inclusion and trust in the digital ecosystem, and addressing online security challenges. The work of the OECD in developing better policies in an open and interconnected digital world is recognized and respected by policymakers and business leaders for the fact-based economic analysis informing its policy recommendations.

In view of the Internet’s importance to all sectors of the economy, the March 10 program will be open to business participants from the ICT community, as well as representatives of the Internet technical community and civil society. Read the full conference agenda here.

About USCIB:

USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence. Its members include U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world. With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, including BIAC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment. More at www.uscib.org.

University of Houston Law Center wins ICC Mediation Competition 2015

Published on February 13, 2015

University of Houston Law Center winners Rose Badruddin and Brandon Schrecengost

The University of Houston Law Center has won the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s 10th International Commercial Mediation Competition, taking the title after a thrilling final against the University of Sao Paolo.

The competition, which ran from February 6-11 in Paris, is ICC’s biggest educational event and the only moot devoted exclusively to international commercial mediation and is open to law and business schools worldwide.

Featuring some 150 mock mediation sessions based on real commercial disputes, the 2015 Competition tested the problem-solving skills of 67 teams from 34 countries, making it the biggest and most diverse yet.

University of Houston Law Center was represented by students Rose Badruddin and Brandon Schrecengost, who won internships at the ICC International Center for ADR, and the Center for Effective Dispute Resolution, as part of the Competition prize.

“I’m ecstatic!” said Schrecengost. “To get this far and eventually win is beyond anything we could have hoped for.”

Badruddin added: “Lawyers are usually taught to be independent but I think one of the biggest lessons of this competition for me is: trust yourself, but also trust your partner.”

The team was selected for their “good social dynamics” during their university’s series of mediation, negotiation, and arbitration competitions, according to coach Kevin Hedges, a practicing attorney who teaches at the University of Houston and has been a moderator, mediator and arbitrator. He added: “The competition has gotten much more competitive every year. It’s invaluable for the students to meet their peers from around the world and interact with them both socially and professionally.”

Throughout the competition, professional mediators drew on their own experiences of resolving business disputes to act as mediators and judges, while students played the roles of client and legal counsel. The final session involved a complex dispute over the low yields of a newly acquired vineyard on a South Pacific Island.

OECD “Going for Growth” Report Reveals Ambitious Reforms Good for All

Published on February 13, 2015

The OECD recently published the latest edition of its flagship report “Going for Growth,” which assesses countries’ progress in implementing structural policies since 2013, and also identifies new priorities to revive growth. The OECD’s Going for Growth analysis forms the basis of the OECD’s wider contribution to the G20 Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth and to G20 National Growth Strategies.

Highlights from this year’s report include:

Structural reforms implemented since the early 2000s have contributed to raising potential GDP per capita by around 5% on average across countries. Most gains come from higher productivity.

Further reform based on OECD best practice could raise long-term level of GDP per capita by up to 10% on average across OECD countries.

The pace of structural reforms has slowed in most OECD countries in the past two years, but has been accelerating in major emerging markets.

Many of the OECD’s pro-growth structural policies have little or no impact on income inequality among households. In fact, a number of reforms reduce wage dispersion and/or household income inequality (e.g. reforms for better access to education, active labour market policies and growth-friendly tax and transfer systems). Also, reducing regulatory barriers to entry and competition in sectors with large potential markets is likely to reduce income inequality.

The Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD Economic Policy Survey 2014, released last May, was a major business contribution to the formulation of the OECD’s Going for Growth report.

USCIB Adds Business Voice in Fight Against NCDs

Published on February 11, 2015

USCIB submitted comments to the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 6 stressing the role business plays in combating malnutrition and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs are responsible for over 60 percent of the world’s premature deaths, according to the WHO.

Last year the WHO established the Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, an intergovernmental body designed to coordinate activities and multi-stakeholder engagement across sectors as the WHO works toward implementing an Action Plan on NCDs.

“We believe that the private sector has a legitimate role to play in working with the WHO, its Members States and civil society to curb NCDs,” wrote Helen Medina, USCIB’s senior director for product policy and innovation in a submission co-signed by the International Organization of Employers, “and it wants to be part of the solution.”

The submission noted that all companies have an interest in ensuring they have a healthy and resilient workforce, and for that reason the private sector must be included in policy discussions about how to best address NCDs. USCIB reiterated its messages that self-regulation can play a constructive role, public-private partnerships are an effective response to global health challenges and taxes on various foods and beverages have negative, unintended consequences, especially for societies’ poorest consumers.

The submission also included examples from USCIB member companies of business initiatives aimed at improving global health, such as The Coca-Cola Company’s support of the “Exercise is Medicine” program, which encourages doctors to include exercise when designing treatment plans for patients. Also, Nestlé’s Healthy Kids Global Program is a partnership initiative aimed at raising nutrition knowledge and promoting physical activity among school-age children. The program reached almost seven million children in 68 countries at the end of 2013. And Pfizer has supported a pilot project in China called “Healthy Heart – New Life,” focused on developing work-related healthcare services to address chronic disease.

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

Published on February 10, 2015

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.