The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact

The UN Global Compact is a voluntary initiative that encourages businesses to align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. These principles serve as a framework for companies to integrate responsible and sustainable practices into their business models, and to contribute to the achievement of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. By adhering to the principles of the Global Compact, businesses can help create a more just and sustainable world. These are the ten principles:

1. Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights within their spheres of influence. This means that companies should strive to uphold the fundamental rights of individuals, including the right to life, liberty, and security of a person; freedom from discrimination; the right to an adequate standard of living; and the right to education and participation in cultural life.
2. Principle 2: Businesses should make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. This means that companies should take steps to avoid contributing to, or being associated with, human rights violations. This may include conducting human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, and mitigate any negative impacts on human rights in their operations or supply chains.
3. Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. This means that companies should respect the rights of workers to form and join trade unions or other representative organizations, and should engage in good faith with such organizations to negotiate mutually acceptable agreements.
4. Principle 4: Businesses should eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labor. This means that companies should not use any form of forced or compulsory labor, including prison labor, indentured labor, bonded labor, or labor that is a result of human trafficking.
5. Principle 5: Businesses should eliminate child labor in all its forms. This means that companies should not employ workers under the age of 18, or the minimum age for employment established by national laws, whichever is higher. In cases where national laws allow for the employment of younger workers in certain sectors, such employment should be restricted to light work that is not harmful to the health or development of the child.
6. Principle 6: Businesses should eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. This means that companies should not discriminate against employees or job applicants on the basis of factors such as race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.
7. Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges. This means that companies should take proactive steps to prevent or minimize environmental harm, even in the absence of full scientific certainty about the potential impacts of their actions.
8. Principle 8: Businesses should undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility. This means that companies should strive to improve their environmental performance and reduce their environmental footprint, and should encourage other organizations to do the same.
9. Principle 9: Businesses should encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. This means that companies should support the research, development, and deployment of technologies that have a lower environmental impact, and should help to make such technologies more widely available.
10. Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. This means that companies should not engage in, or support, any form of corruption, including offering or accepting bribes, or using their influence to gain an improper advantage. Companies should also support efforts to prevent and combat corruption and should cooperate with authorities in investigations of corrupt practices.