Communication on Progress

When joining the Global Compact, companies make a commitment to issue an annual Communication on Progress (COP), a public disclosure to stakeholders (e.g., investors, consumers, civil society and Governments) on progress made in implementing the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, and in supporting broad UN development goals.

The COP requirement serves several important purposes:

• advance transparency and accountability;
• drive continuous performance improvement;
• safeguard the integrity of the UN Global Compact and the United Nations; and
• help build a growing repository of corporate practices to promote dialogue and learning.

All business participants are required to post their COP on the Global Compact website and to share it widely with their stakeholders.

The COP is the most important expression of a participant's commitment to the Global Compact and its principles. Violations of the COP policy (e.g., failure to issue a COP) will result in the change in participant status to non-communicating and can eventually lead to the delisting of the participant. (Please note that the COP Policy does not apply to non-business participants, although many choose to develop a COP.)