Attachment III: Brief Introduction to the Global Compact Executive Office of the United Nations
‘Global
Compact’ was brought forward for the first time by United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an address to the World Economic Forum
on 31 January, 1999 in Davos, Switzerland and he called on enterprises
to give attention to both their economic activities and social
commonweal and take on relative social responsibilities with promises of
obeying international behavior rules. The ‘Global Compact’ was formally
launched by relative representatives in an assembly at UN Headquarters
in New York in July, 2000.
‘Global Compact’ came into being on the background that multinational corporations hastened their pace for development, however, they neglected the labor’s interests and environmental protection, which was widely criticized. The ‘universal values and principles’ it advances help to standardize enterprises’ activities, mobilize the enthusiasm of folk capital and enterprises, encourage enterprises to be involved in solving problems of poverty and complement international cooperation in related fields. Meanwhile, it brings forward some requirements for the behaviors of enterprises and urges them to obey some international principles. As there are representatives from labor unions, non-governmental organizations and governments, it produces certain social benefits in areas such as supervising relative enterprises, encouraging enterprises’ self-discipline, paying attention to labor’s interests and protecting environment, etc., and it also enables enterprises to improve their images and enhance their fame.
‘Global Compact’ emphasizes social responsibilities of enterprises. The responsibilities generally include: (a) to provide consumers with high-quality products at reasonable prices; (b) to earn profits and associate with shareholders; (c) to pay salaries to employees; (d) to pay corporate taxes. Companies are supposed to earn profits on the basis of obeying morality and principles and be responsible for social reform and so on.
The ten principles Global Compact requires enterprises to obey are as follows:
A. Human Rights:
Businesses should respect and protect the various internationally proclaimed human rights;
Businesses should make sure that they will not in the least get involved in any actions disregarding and trampling human rights.
B. Labor Standards:
Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and accept the right of collective bargaining;
Businesses should completely eliminate compulsory labor in all forms;
Businesses should effectively abolish child labor;
Businesses should stop any discrimination in respect of employment and
occupation.
3. Environment:
Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibilities;
Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies;
4. Anti-Corruption:
Businesses should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.
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