OWG Proposed Target 12.6
RATING: UNCERTAIN for adopting sustainable practices. The term is general, and experience shows that the impact of corporate social and environmental responsibility programs enacted by companies is highly variable. For reporting, the cost-benefit ratio is FAIR – the costs are unlikely to be very high, particularly for large companies that are already reporting financial information – though it will depend on the regulatory burden. A strong argument in favor of this target is that it would generate increased transparency, particularly in countries with low levels of corporate reporting - which could yield large, but uncertain benefits.
Setting the Right Global Goals
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You can read about our prioritization project, setting smart, cost-effective goals in this op-ed published around the world including Turkey, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Uganda, South Korea, Costa Rica and the Philippines.
Download the entire report
In our recent report, not just the target above, but all 169 targets have been assessed by 60 teams of the world’s top economists. The targets have been categorized into five ratings based on evidence of economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits. While we applaud that the UN Open Working Group's final outcome document contains 43 fewer targets than the previous document, we are concerned that many targets have simply been combined, therefore reducing the number of both phenomenal and poor targets assessed according to our cost-benefit analysis. Our new assessment includes suggestions for how these can be improved as reported in this article by the Financial Times.