Sustainability and Corporate Governance

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Sustainability Standards and Instruments

Since the late 1990s there has been a proliferation of transnational, voluntary standards for what constitutes responsible corporate action, including standards that have been developed by states; public/private partnerships; multi-stakeholder negotiation processes; industries and companies; institutional investors; functional groups such as accountancy firms and social assurance consulting groups; NGOs; and non-financial ratings agencies.¹ Notable multi-sector standards initiatives have included Social Accountability 8000 and the Ethical Trading Institute, and influential multilateral initiatives have included the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the ISO 26000 Corporate Responsibility ...