Meg has a J.D. in Urban, Land Use and Environmental Law. She focuses on maintaining the balance of community and environmental health, healthy lifestyles, and encouraging sustainable living.

Anyone who cares about global competition and free trade, will also care about the United Nations Global Compact. Like SA 8000, a global social accountability standard for decent working conditions, it focuses on the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.  There are many prominent U.S. businesses that have committed to the principles of the compact: Levi Strauss, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Price Waterhouse auditors and Nike are all participants.

Each business that joins the UN Global Compact is expected to embrace the 10 fundamental principles of the Compact, to the best of their ability and within their realm of influence. As listed on the organization’s website, here are the 10 principles:

Human Rights:

1)             support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and

2)             protect against human rights abuses.

Labor:

3)             uphold the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining

4)             the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

5)             the effective abolition of child labour; and

6)             the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

Environment:

7)             support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

8)             undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

9)             encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption:

10)          work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

The Compact is designed as a forum for businesses globally to collaborate within a practical framework to exchange best practices and facilitate the development of sustainable business methods. According to its website, www.unglobalcompact.org, the Compact has over 8700 corporate participants in 130 countries. With this kind of participation, there is certainly hope that businesses can start working together on a global level to infuse human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption ideals at a global level, and that those ideals can have an impact locally.

It should not surprise us that companies that take to heart the provisions of SA 8000 are often committed to a broader range of compacts focused on global equity, protection of the environment and protecting our natural resources.  We believe the principles of the UN Global Compact and SA 8000 are important in “shifting the balance” toward a healthier planet.