Introduction to Sustainability Standards and Instruments

Since the late 1990s there has been a proliferation of transnational, voluntary standards for what constitutes responsible corporate actions, 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. This chapter provides an overview of the leading standards and instruments including CSR initiatives of governmental or intergovernmental bodies (e.g., UN Global Compact, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, International Financial Corporation and UN Sustainable Development Goals); CSR human rights instruments; sectoral CSR commitments; international multi-stakeholder processes, international management and reporting standards and securities exchanges and regulators.