Global Compact Office sends 859 companies packing

Yesterday the Global Compact Office announced that 859 companies were removed (delisted) from the initiative's database of participants between 1 October 2009 and 1 January 2010. The total number of businesses removed for failure to meet the Global Compact's mandatory annual reporting requirement now stands at 1840. The high number of delistings in this relatively short period is due to a policy adjustment which led to the elimination of the "inactive" status in the Global Compact database. Companies are now delisted after one year of being marked as "non-communicating".

Under the Compact's policies, participating businesses must issue an annual progress report (also known as Communication on Progress - COP) on their implementation of the initiative's ten principles. Consecutive failure to submit a COP to the Global Compact's public database leads to the delisting. The delisting policy was first introduced in January 2008, as part of the Global Compact's integrity measures.
 

The list with delisted companies published by the Global Compact Office shows that the Compact continues to experience difficulties in Latin America. Over 200 Mexican companies were delisted. There are now 107 Mexican business participants in the Global Compact, of which 33 are "non-communicating". Global Compact Critics reported about the trouble in Mexico in November 2009.

The Dominican Republic is another country where the local network of the Compact has failed to inform and motivate its members. According to the list issued by the Global Compact Office, over 90 companies in the Dominican Republic were delisted. Only four active companies remain in this country. The Colombian local network has performed slightly better. Over 30 percent of its business participants were dismissed.

While delisted companies are removed entirely from the Global Compact’s database, the initiative does keep the door open for those companies willing to return. To rejoin the Global Compact, companies must send a new commitment signed by the chief executive officer to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and submit a COP to the Global Compact database.

Source: Global Compact Office (2/2/2010).

© Photo by the Alumni Project.