About the UN Global Compact

The United Nations Global Compact brings companies together with UN agencies, labour, civil society and governments to advance universal principles in order to foster a more sustainable and inclusive world economy.

Launched in 2000, the Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. Approximately 4,000 companies from more than 120 countries, as well as 1000 stakeholders from civil society, international labour organizations and academia, are engaged in the Global Compact and working to advance ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.

The Global Compact has unmatched strength in the developing world, home to more than half its participating organizations and a majority of the more than 60 country-level networks it has engendered. In addition to its rapid growth, the Global Compact has achieved significant impact by fostering company engagement on pressing global corporate citizenship issues. The Global Compact’s comparative advantage rests in the universality of its ten principles, the international legitimacy and convening power of the United Nations, and the Compact’s potential to be a truly global platform with appeal not only in industrialized countries, but also in the developing world.

The Ten Principles

The Global Compact seeks to foster a more beneficial relationship between business and societies, paying particular attention to the world’s poorest people. The initiative seeks to contribute to more sustainable and inclusive global markets by embedding them in shared values. Importantly, the Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption enjoy universal consensus. They are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. The Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, the following principles:

Human Rights

  • Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
  • Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

  • Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
  • Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
  • Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
  • Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

  • Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
  • Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility;
  • Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies

Anti-Corruption

  • Principle 10: Businesses should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

For more information about the Global Compact see the UN Global Compact website.