The United Nations Global Compact: Achievements, Trends and Challenges

The United Nations Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative that encourages businesses to support ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. It is the world's largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative with more than 7,500 business and non-business participants in over 130 countries. This book reviews the first ten years of the Compact's existence (2000-2010) by presenting exclusively commissioned chapters from well-known scholars, practitioners from the business world and civil society, and Global Compact staff. They reflect on what the Global Compact has achieved, what trends it may have to respond to, and what challenges are ahead. The book contains not only up-to-date reflections but also debates recent changes to the structure of the Compact, including the Communication on Progress policy, the role of Global Compact Local Networks, and the role of emerging specialized initiatives.

Andreas Rasche is Assistant Professor of Business in Society at Warwick Business School and, since 2007, has worked as a consultant to the United Nations Global Compact Office in New York. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Corporate Responsibility from the European Business School, Germany. His research focuses on global governance and transactional organizational regulation in the context of contested global issues. He has publishes widely in learning international journals on corporate responsibility and has guest-edited special issues of various journals. Georg Kell is the Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact. His career with the United Nations began in 1987 at the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. In 1997, Mr Kell joined the office of the UN Secretary-General in New York, where he spearheaded the development of new strategies to enhance private sector engagement with the work of the United Nations. As one of the Global Compact's key architects, he has led the initiative since its launch in 2000. A native of Germany, he holds advanced degrees in economics and engineering from the Technical University of Berlin.