3,000 Companies Expelled from UN Global Compact in 7 Years

Real estate company Georgetown Green, support services firm Kent Global Security and office furniture supplier Humanscale are the latest U.S. firms to be expelled from the U.N. Global Compact, as the program announces that its expulsions have reached 3,123 since 2005.

The companies were expelled for failing to communicate progress on their efforts to implement the compact’s ten sustainability principles, in the areas of environment, human rights, labor and anti-corruption, the U.N. says. The chart above left shows the most recently expelled companies. The full list of expelled participants is available here.

But the U.N. says the number of new companies joining the compact significantly exceeds the number of expulsions. It has a goal for 20,000 business participants by 2020. The compact currently has over 10,000 participants, including 7,000 businesses.

The Global Compact is a voluntary initiative in which members pledge to make sustainability principles a part of their strategy, culture and day-to-day operations. They are expected to communicate annually with their stakeholders about their progress on implementing the principles and on undertaking partnership projects in support of broad U.N. goals.

Saying that commitments must be followed by action, the U.N. has called on its business participants to broaden and deepen their implementation efforts.

The organization says the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), taking place this June, will provide an international platform for companies to demonstrate how they are contributing to the sustainable development agenda. At the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, business leaders will showcase best and emerging practices, and set forth their recommendations for how governments can enable more responsible behavior by business.