The FINANCIAL -- On February 1, the Global Compact Office announced that 859 companies were removed (delisted) from the initiative’s database of participants between 1 October 2009 and 1 January 2010.

The total number of businesses removed for failure to meet the Global Compact’s mandatory annual reporting requirement now stands at 1840.

Under the Global Compact’s policies, participating businesses must issue an annual progress report (also known as Communication on Progress, or COP) on their implementation of the initiative’s ten principles covering human rights, workplace standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. Consecutive failure to submit a COP to the Global Compact’s public database leads to the delisting. The delisting policy was first introduced in January 2008, as part of the Global Compact’s integrity measures.

At the same time, the Global Compact continues to experience strong growth. In January of this year, 127 companies joined the initiative, bringing the total to over 5,300 active business participants from more than 135 countries

“A commitment to public disclosure on performance is critical to the transparency and integrity of the Global Compact,” said Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “At the same, more and more companies are beginning to understand the importance of environmental and social reporting for the continuous improvement of their own performance.”

While delisted companies are removed entirely from the Global Compact’s database, the initiative does keep the door open for those companies willing to return. To rejoin the Global Compact, companies must send a new commitment signed by the chief executive officer to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and submit a COP to the Global Compact database.

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