‘A Necessary Supplement’ — What the United Nations Global Compact Is (and Is Not)

Abstract

Since its operational launch in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact has attracted a good deal of both support and criticism. The Compact represents the world’s largest network-based voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. 1 The term ‘corporate citizenship’ is adopted here from the literature as a descriptor for a voluntary change of business practices to meet the responsibilities imposed on firms by their stakeholders. 2 It is, however, outside the scope of this chapter to undertake a careful delineation of its similarities and differences with ‘corporate responsibility’. Although progress has been made in terms of the large number of business and non-business participants (now numbering 7,300) and improvements in business practices have been presented (McKinsey 3 concludes that nine out of ten participants are doing more towards the Compact’s principles than they were 5 years ago), this progress also brought about a lot of criticism, largely from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academics and the wider press. Thérien and Pouliot, 4 for instance, argue that the Compact fosters a ‘pro-market spin’ that breaks with the UN’s traditional position and thus is eroding its legitimacy in the long run. Amnesty International 5 complains about the missing accountability of the initiative and asks for a more rigorous assessment of whether participants are really complying with the principles. In a more radical way, Sethi argues that the Compact ‘provides a venue for opportunistic companies to make grandiose statements of corporate citizenship without worrying about being called to account for their actions’. 6 These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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