Starbucks Corp. is trying to refocus in a tough economy as a company with a conscience, announcing a partnership with Bono’s (RED) label on Wednesday as it attempts to recover from a slowdown in consumer spending. The partnership with (RED), co-founded by the U2 frontman, will donate a portion of the proceeds of selected holiday [...]

Today, experts in sustainable and responsible investment are launching a new association, Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG), created to promote financial solutions reconciling economic development with social and environmental challenges. SFG is an association created by fifteen professionals with a common interest in promoting sustainable finance and responsible investment. They saw a unique opportunity to accelerate [...]

Google, Microsoft and Yahoo and a group of human rights and public interest organizations plan to introduce Wednesday a global code of conduct that they say will better protect online free speech and privacy against government intrusion. The principles are the starting point for a new effort, called the Global Network Initiative, which commits the [...]

Chevron is embarking today on a high stakes defense in U.S. federal court against charges that it helped orchestrate the killing of two Nigerian villagers at a time when its corporate legal department is [...]

Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (“FCPA”) largely in response to disclosures in the early 1970s of widespread bribery of foreign officials by United States business interests. Congress resolved to prohibit such bribery, not just because it is morally and economically suspect, but also because it was causing foreign policy problems [...]

More evidence has emerged of the steamrollering effect of China’s tightening grip on the economic life of Burma. A watchdog report alleging land theft and intimidation of local people by a major Chinese corporation comes on top of a report by an international human rights agency expressing concern at China’s growing control over Burma’s natural [...]

Geneva-based Covalence is publishing today its quarterly ethical reputation ranking, giving the best ranked companies as well as those companies which have made the most progress in the 3rd Quarter of 2008. An overview of emerging and decreasing topics is also given. The main results across sectors are: IBM enters top 10 EthicalQuote score across [...]

Harington Investments, with the support of Boston Common Asset Management, has proffered a shareholder resolution that requests Cisco “amend the company’s bylaws to establish a board committee on human rights that is authorized to review the implications of company policies, above and beyond matters of legal compliance, for the human rights of individuals in the [...]

Wal-Mart’s push to make its stores and suppliers in China more environmentally-friendly cuts to the heart of one of the big debates these days: Is a “green economy” the antidote to or a potential victim of the economic crisis?  Wal-Mart’s drive to make its Bejing stores more energy-efficient and to force local suppliers to comply [...]

Le groupe américain eBay a annoncé mardi qu’il allait totalement interdire à partir du 1er janvier les ventes d’objets en ivoire sur son site d’enchères en ligne, sous la pression des défenseurs des animaux, afin de lutter contre le commerce illicite d’espèces menacées. Cette annonce est intervenue quelques heures après la publication d’un rapport du [...]