United Nations Global Compact
A voluntary United Nations framework that helps businesses adopt responsible practices based on ten principles covering human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The United Nations Global Compact is a voluntary, non-binding United Nations initiative that encourages companies and other organizations to align their strategies and operations with internationally recognized principles on human rights, labour, environmental responsibility and anti-corruption. It was proposed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the World Economic Forum in January 1999 and formally launched at UN Headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000. The initiative brings together businesses, UN agencies, labour organizations, civil-society groups, governments and academic institutions in a common platform for dialogue, learning and action. The Global Compact is organized around ten principles. The first two address the corporate responsibility to support and respect internationally proclaimed human rights and to avoid complicity in abuses. Four labour principles cover freedom of association and collective bargaining, the elimination of forced labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of employment discrimination. Three environmental principles promote precaution, environmental responsibility and the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. The tenth principle, added in 2004, calls on businesses to oppose corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery. Rather than acting as a regulator or certification body, the initiative uses a facilitative model. Participating organizations make a public commitment, receive access to guidance and peer-learning opportunities, and are expected to communicate on their progress. The Global Compact explicitly does not represent that a participant has fulfilled the principles merely because it has joined. Its principal mechanisms include policy dialogues, learning programmes, local networks and collaborative projects. This approach has made it an important forum for corporate sustainability, while also exposing it to criticism that voluntary commitments may not provide sufficient accountability. The initiative initially linked responsible business activity with the UN Millennium Development Goals. After the MDGs reached their 2015 deadline, the Sustainable Development Goals became the central reference point for its work toward the UN 2030 Agenda. The Global Compact develops practical resources for organizations, including the SDG Compass, produced with the Global Reporting Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It also supports thematic platforms and partnerships addressing issues such as peace, oceans, climate and responsible investment. A global office in New York works with country-level Local Networks. These networks adapt the principles to national, cultural and linguistic contexts and provide contacts, events and learning opportunities for participants. The initiative has also supported sectoral and thematic work, including Business for Peace and sustainable ocean-business activities. Its Cities Programme, launched after a proposal from Melbourne, extended the framework to urban authorities and operated from 2002 until 2021. The Global Compact is one of the largest international corporate sustainability networks, with more than 20,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders reported across over 167 countries. It is also a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative. In 2017, manufacturers of tobacco products, anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions were excluded from participation because of the health and humanitarian harms associated with those products. The organization remains an active platform for responsible-business commitments, although its voluntary design means that its influence depends substantially on participant engagement, transparency and the effectiveness of its networks.
History
The Global Compact emerged from Kofi Annan’s 31 January 1999 address to the World Economic Forum, where he called for a closer relationship between the United Nations and the private sector around shared values. It was formally inaugurated at UN Headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000. The original framework contained nine principles derived from major international declarations and conventions concerning human rights, labour and the environment. At the first Global Compact Leaders Summit on 24 June 2004, Annan announced a tenth principle on anti-corruption, reflecting the importance of the United Nations Convention against Corruption adopted in 2003. During its early years, the initiative concentrated on encouraging companies to embed the principles in business activities and on supporting the Millennium Development Goals. It developed a global office and country-level networks through which participants could exchange experience and interpret responsible business in local contexts. The model was intentionally non-binding: companies were asked to make a high-level commitment and report on progress, while the organization supplied learning, guidance and opportunities for collaboration instead of legal enforcement. This made the Global Compact accessible to a wide range of organizations but also created continuing questions about the credibility and comparability of voluntary corporate commitments. The first Leaders Summit in 2004 was followed by a second summit in Geneva on 5–6 July 2007, which adopted the Geneva Declaration on corporate responsibility. A tenth-anniversary summit in New York on 24–25 June 2010 produced the Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership. The blueprint set out criteria for organizations seeking to demonstrate stronger implementation of the principles, contribution to development goals and engagement with the initiative. In 2009, Rotary International entered into a partnership with the Global Compact. The organization’s priorities shifted after the Millennium Development Goals expired in 2015. The Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda became the principal framework for its work. The Global Compact subsequently expanded resources and partnerships designed to help companies identify how their operations could support the SDGs. One prominent example is the SDG Compass, developed with the Global Reporting Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which provides business-oriented guidance, indicators and tools for integrating the goals into strategy and reporting. The initiative has also operated through thematic programmes. Business for Peace addresses the role of companies in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Its Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform supported the Seaweed Manifesto in 2020 and helped establish the Global Seaweed Coalition in 2021 with the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and France’s National Centre for Scientific Research. The Global Compact also became a founding member of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative alongside the Principles for Responsible Investment, the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative and UN Trade and Development. A Cities Programme grew from Melbourne’s 2001 proposal that cities should be able to participate. It was launched in 2002 as an urban-focused component and developed the Melbourne Model, a cross-sector approach to difficult urban problems. Later work incorporated the Circles of Sustainability framework and involved RMIT University, UN-Habitat and other partners. The programme reported 120 city participants in 2020, many in Latin America and the Caribbean, before ending in 2021. In 2017, participation was closed to manufacturers of tobacco products, anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions. This was a significant boundary-setting decision for an initiative otherwise based on voluntary participation. The Global Compact continues to operate as a United Nations-supported network and platform for responsible business. Its current influence rests on the scale of its membership, its local networks, its guidance materials and its ability to convene companies with governments, labour and civil society, rather than on binding sanctions.
- 2021
Global Seaweed Coalition launched
[1]A coalition supporting a sustainable seaweed sector was launched with UN Global Compact partners.
- 2017
Restricted participation for certain harmful products
[1]Manufacturers of tobacco, anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions were excluded.
- 2015
Shift to the Sustainable Development Goals
[1]The SDGs replaced the completed Millennium Development Goals as the initiative’s main development reference point.
- 2010
Corporate Sustainability Leadership Blueprint
[1]The tenth-anniversary summit released a framework for stronger corporate leadership and implementation.
- 2007
Geneva Leaders Summit
[1]The second Leaders Summit adopted the Geneva Declaration on corporate responsibility.
- 2004
Tenth principle added
[1]The anti-corruption principle was added at the first Global Compact Leaders Summit.
- 2002
Cities Programme established
[1]The initiative created an urban programme following Melbourne’s proposal to admit cities as participants.
- 2000
Formal launch
[1]The Global Compact was launched at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
- 1999
Global Compact proposed
[1]Kofi Annan presented the idea of a United Nations–business compact in a speech at the World Economic Forum.
Products and positioning
A global, voluntary and principle-based platform for corporate sustainability and responsible business, positioned between international policy dialogue, practical guidance and multi-stakeholder networking rather than regulation or certification.
Framework · 2000
Ten Principles
The core framework organizes responsible-business expectations into four areas: human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. It is intended to guide corporate policies, operations, risk management and reporting, but does not function as a mandatory legal code or certification standard.
Guidance tool · 2015
SDG Compass
A business-oriented resource developed with the Global Reporting Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It helps organizations interpret the Sustainable Development Goals, identify relevant indicators and integrate the goals into strategy and stakeholder reporting.
Network programme · 2000
Local Networks
Independent, self-governed country networks that connect participants with local businesses, civil society, labour organizations and public institutions. They translate the Global Compact’s principles into national contexts and provide events, learning and points of contact.
Thematic platform
Business for Peace
A thematic initiative that encourages businesses to understand conflict and instability and consider practical ways of contributing to peace through their operations, partnerships and relationships with local networks.
Thematic platform
Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform
A collaboration platform focused on ocean-related business action. It supported work such as the Seaweed Manifesto and the subsequent Global Seaweed Coalition, bringing together companies, researchers, UN bodies and civil society organizations.
Marketing campaigns
- 2020Seaweed Manifesto support
Global
The Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform supported the launch of a manifesto developed by private-sector, research, UN and civil-society participants to promote a safe and sustainable seaweed industry.
Outcome. The work contributed to the creation of the Global Seaweed Coalition in 2021.
- 2015SDG business engagement
Global
Following the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Compact expanded guidance, learning and partnerships to help businesses connect corporate activity with the 2030 Agenda.
Outcome. The SDGs became the initiative’s primary development framework.
- 2002UN Global Compact Cities Programme
Global cities
An urban extension of the Global Compact created after Melbourne argued that cities should be able to express commitments to responsible and sustainable development. The programme used cross-sector partnerships and later the Circles of Sustainability approach to address urban challenges.
Outcome. The programme developed international city networks and urban sustainability methods, and ended in 2021.
Brand decisions
2017
Exclude manufacturers of specified harmful productsStrategyBackground
The Global Compact considered the health and humanitarian consequences associated with tobacco, anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions incompatible with participation in its responsible-business initiative.
Action taken
Companies manufacturing tobacco products, anti-personnel mines or cluster munitions were barred from participating.
Aftermath
The decision established explicit participation boundaries within an otherwise voluntary and broadly inclusive network.
2004
Add an anti-corruption principleOtherBackground
The original framework contained nine principles focused on human rights, labour and the environment. Growing international attention to corruption and the 2003 UN Convention against Corruption provided the context for an additional principle.
Action taken
The initiative added a tenth principle calling on businesses to oppose corruption in all forms, including extortion and bribery.
Aftermath
The Ten Principles became organized across four subjects: human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
Recent events
- 2021
Global Seaweed Coalition launched[1]
Other
The Global Compact joined the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and France’s National Centre for Scientific Research in launching a coalition intended to support a safer and more sustainable seaweed industry.
- 2017
Global Compact excludes tobacco, landmine and cluster-munition manufacturers[1]
Regulation
Participation rules were tightened to bar companies manufacturing tobacco products, anti-personnel mines or cluster munitions.
- 2004
UN Global Compact adds its tenth principle against corruption[1]
Other
The initiative expanded its original nine principles with a dedicated anti-corruption principle following the first Leaders Summit.
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