ESG initiatives in international law

Several ESG initiatives have emerged in the international sphere, often having non-state actors as their main driving force. The UN, the OECD, and the G20 have been standing in the forefront of, first, corporate social responsibility and, more recently, the development of ESG approaches in international law. Important examples include the UN Global Compact, the Principles for Responsible Investment, and the OECD/G20 Principles of Corporate Governance. A number of these initiatives are the outcomes of cooperation between public and private actors and between traditional international organizations and informal actors, such as the cooperation between the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the Principles for Responsible Investment (a private initiative of institutional investors) or the OECD and the G20 (an informal forum for policy coordination amongst the world’s major developed and emerging economies). These interactions, their potential, and corresponding challenges for international regulation of corporate behaviour are examined in this chapter.