Communicating Progress
One of the explicit commitments that a company makes when it joins the UN Global Compact is to produce an annual Communication on Progress (COP). This is a requirement of participation which serves several important purposes:
- to instill accountability;
- to drive continuous improvement;
- to safeguard the integrity of the UN Global Compact as a whole;
- and to contribute to the development of a repository of corporate practices.
In recent years, more and more companies have developed corporate sustainability reports. The COP policy is a reflection of this trend towards greater accountability and transparency. A COP is a disclosure to stakeholders (e.g., investors, consumers, civil society, governments, etc.) on progress made in implementing the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, and in supporting broad UN development goals (as expressed in the second objective of the UN Global Compact).
Business participants are required to annually post a COP on the UN Global Compact website and to share the COP widely with their stakeholders.The COP is an important demonstration of a participant's commitment to the UN Global Compact and its principles, and as such a violation of the COP policy will result in the change in a participant's status and eventually in the delisting of the participant. (See link below for full description of the COP Policy.)
The COP should be mainstreamed in the company's existing communications methods. While the format for a COP is flexible, it must contain three important elements:
- a statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact in the opening letter, statement or message from the Chief Executive Officer, Chairman or other senior executive;
- a description of practical actions that participants have taken since joining the initiative or since the company’s most recent COP to: (1) implement the UN Global Compact principles and (2) undertake partnership projects in support of broad UN goals; and
- a measurement of outcomes or expected outcomes using, as much as possible, indicators or metrics such as those developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
Non-business participants are not required to prepare and post a COP on the UN Global Compact website. However, non-business participants who choose to post a COP on the Global Compact website must follow the COP policy.
In 2004, the UN Global Compact Office introduced the "Notable COP" program to highlight and recognize outstanding Communications on Progress. COPs featured in the Notable COP program are selected because of their strong adherence to the COP policy and because they represent illustrative and inspirational examples of communicating progress.
Contact
Oliver Johner
COP Analyst
johner@un.org
