Tag: UK Modern Slavery Act

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Compliance Week Conference Podcast

Matt Friedman on The Human Factor of ESG

In this episode of the Compliance Week 2022 Preview Podcasts series, Matt will discuss some of his presentation at Compliance Week 2022, “The Human Factor of ESG.” Some of the issues he will discuss in this podcast, and his presentation are:

  •  The state of modern slavery and examining the impact on the global supply chain.
  • Working to disrupt the human slavery trade.
  • The ways that compliance professionals can remain vigilant within the human rights sector.

I hope you can join me at Compliance Week 2022. This year’s event will be May 16-18 at the JW Marriott in Washington DC. The line-up of this year’s event is simply first-rate, with some of the top ethics and compliance practitioners around.

Gain insights and make connections at the industry’s premier cross-industry national compliance event offering knowledge-packed, accredited sessions and take-home advice from the most influential leaders in the compliance community. Back for its 17th year, compliance, ethics, legal, and audit professionals will gather face-to-face to benchmark best practices and gain the latest tactics and strategies to enhance compliance programs and many others to:

  • Network with your peers, including C-suite executives, legal professionals, HR leaders, and ethics and compliance visionaries.
  • Hear from 75+ respected cross-industry practitioners who are CEOs, CCOs, regulators, federal officials, and practitioners to help inform and shape the strategic direction of your enterprise risk management program.
  • Hear directly from the two SEC Commissioners, gain insights into the agency’s enforcement areas, and walk away with guidance on remaining compliant within emerging areas such as ESG disclosure, third-party risk management, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, and more.
  • Bring actionable takeaways back to your program from various session types, including ESG, Human Trafficking, Board obligations, and many others, to listen to, learn and share.
  • Compliance Week aims to arm you with information, strategy, and tactics to transform your organization and your career by connecting ethics to business performance through process augmentation and data visualization.

I hope you can join me at the event. For information on the event, click here. As an extra benefit to listeners of this podcast, Compliance Week is offering a $200 discount on the registration price, and enter discount code TFLAW $200 OFF.

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The ESG Report

Greenwashing or Getting in Trouble While Trying to Do Good with Jonathan Armstrong


 
Jonathan Armstrong has been looking at ESG from a unique angle for quite some time. In this episode of the ESG Report, he and Tom Fox are taking a look at greenwashing, and how trying to do good can end badly.  
 

 
The Issue of Greenwashing 
One area where people can do wrong by trying to do good is combining the energy crisis with ESG. Corporations attempt to get with the ESG program by talking about carbon neutrality or the use of renewable power, but many have gone beyond simply saying ‘We are carbon neutral!’ to sound more like ‘We’re doing what’s best for the planet!’ Making these claims potentially subject your company to fair trading law across Europe, and can lead to fines or even prison in extreme cases, if the statement cannot be backed up. 
 
The Dark Side 
The production of solar panels, wind turbines, and biofuels are associated with a number of issues, including forced labor, armed conflict, corruption, ecosystem destruction, and allegations of fraud and money laundering. Jonathan discusses all of these, making it clear that, “We shouldn’t necessarily assume green is good.”
 
Responses of the EU & UK 
The biggest response has come from the UK parliament, which have had a specific inquiry into supply chains and proposals for new legislation, including a toughening of the UK Modern Slavery Act. Jonathan’s advice is to provide complete due diligence on who is selling the goods, and where they are coming from, to ensure a good ESG program. “A corporation does not have a good ESG program if one of its first acts is being prosecuted for abuses involved in alternative fuel source production,” he tells listeners.
 
RESOURCES 
Tom Fox’s email
Jonathan Armstrong | LinkedIn | Twitter