17 February 2020

[N]ew research published on Monday by the Alliance for Corporate Transparency shows that companies are releasing woefully insufficient data on climate and human rights performance...

"The EU is developing an agenda on sustainable finance. [T]here needs to be a major shift in the way capital markets and banks handle lending," said Filip Gregor, head of the responsible companies section at Frank Bold... "Companies mostly supply boilerplate risks, with no idea of the time horizon," Gregor said, suggesting that much of the material is created for public relations purposes.

"These results show that mandatory business transparency is a necessary, but insufficient, condition for change," said Phil Bloomer, executive director at the Business & Human Rights Resource Center, which along with groups such as the World Wildlife Fund and Transparency International also participated in the research.

"This assessment adds to the burgeoning evidence that the EU's leadership role in better business needs strengthened transparency regulation and a legal duty of care by companies for their workers, host communities, and the environment," he said...

"There is growing support from enlightened companies, investors, parliamentarians and governments, alongside activists," Bloomer added. "This action would set a level playing field for responsible business and expand legal risk for irresponsible companies if they continue to trash our precious planet, or abuse workers and communities in their supply chains."

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