The UN-business Global Compact in action

http://www.iccwbo.org/home/menu_global_compact.asp
The last year of the 20th century has seen a constructive new relationship develop between the United Nations and business, with each side recognizing that their respective goals are mutually supporting.
Peace, development, the rule of law and harmonious and constructive relations between nations are fundamental goals of the United Nations. Achievement of these goals enables business to expand and prosper.
By creating wealth and jobs, by stimulating scientific and technical progress, and by constantly improving products under the stimulus of competition, companies help to defeat poverty and improve the quality of life. And poverty is the enemy of the humanitarian values espoused by the UN.
These complementary goals led the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to propose a Global Compact between the UN and business to uphold a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards and environmental practice.
Visit for a  list of corporate examples.

The Global Compact

http://www.unglobalcompact.org
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan challenged world business leaders to "embrace and enact" the Global Compact, both in their individual corporate practices and by supporting appropriate public policies. These principles cover topics in human rights, labour and environment.
Visit this site to get an overview of these principles, a section on how to transform these principles into management practices, a section on partners and initiatives and more.

http://www.unctad.org/
UNCTAD is the focal point within the United Nations system for the integrated treatment of development and interrelated issues in the areas of trade, finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development.
Main goals are to maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries, and to help them face challenges arising from globalization and integrate into the world economy, on an equitable basis.
UNCTAD pursues its goals through research and policy analysis, intergovernmental deliberations, technical cooperation, and interaction with civil society and the business sector.

NGO Copenhagen Alternative Declaration
March 1995

UNA-USA Business Council for the UN

http://www.unausa.org/bcun/index.htm

Worker Rights in the Global Economy
1999 - 2000
UNA-USA Global Policy Project

http://www.unausa.org/links/gpp99link.htm
In the interest of promoting substantive discussion, UNA-USA is pleased to provide a broad reference list of groups offering a range of perspectives on the issue of worker "rights" and the impact of globalization on labor. Though not comprehensive, this list represents many of the well-known organizations working variously on questions of labor, commerce, trade, economic, or legal policy. Many of the descriptions are taken directly or paraphrased from the organizations' own web sites.

http://195.74.198.21/ebnsc/default1.htm
EBNSC (European Business Network for Social Cohesion) is a non-profit organisation that tries to stimulate governments and multinationals in Europe to employ, train & educate long-term unemployed & socially excluded people.
EBNSC helps companies to share knowledge and experience. It is a business-driven membership network whose mission is to encourage and help companies to prosper in ways that stimulate job growth, increase employability and prevent social exclusion; thereby contributing to a sustainable economy and a more just society. EBNSC, in partnership with the European Commission, provides a bridge between business, national governments and European policy makers, creating a greater understanding of their respective roles. Through EBNSC, member companies now have the opportunity to define the European Corporate Social Responsibility agenda

Visit the site's Resource Centre at http://www.ebnsc.org/resource.htm and learn about best practices of corporate social responsibility in Europe, including 500 business case studies addressing many different CSR issue areas and a list of universities with courses in this subject.
Links and Publications on CSR and information on European Social Policies.

http://www.ebbf.org/
EBBF is a global professional non-profit association of men and women practicing and promoting moral and ethical values in business. Membership is global, its activities are focused in Europe. EBBF is drawing increasing attention in Europe through its publications, its participation in United Nations summit conferences, and its projects to promote entrepreneurship and ethics in many Eastern and Central European countries.
Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Success
http://www.ebbf.org/crswrd.htm
One of the core beliefs of the European Bahá'í Business Forum is that business has a social responsibility as well as an economic mission. This article seeks to articulate and communicate what social responsibility means and why it makes good business sense to integrate it into business strategies and practices. It does this by:

International Chamber of Commerce 
ICC

http://www.iccwbo.org/
ICC is the world business organization, the representative body that speaks with authority on behalf of enterprises from all sectors in every part of the world.
ICC promotes an open international trade and investment system and the market economy. Its conviction that trade is a powerful force for peace and prosperity dates from the organization's origins early in the century. The small group of far-sighted business leaders who founded ICC called themselves "the merchants of peace".
Because its member companies and associations are themselves engaged in international business, ICC has the authority in making rules that govern the conduct of business across borders. Although these rules are voluntary, they are observed in transactions every day and have become part of the fabric of international trade.
Within a year of the creation of the United Nations, ICC was granted consultative status at the highest level with the UN and its specialized agencies.
ICC was founded in 1919. Today it groups thousands of member companies and associations from over 130 countries. National committees in the world's major capitals coordinate with their membership to address the concerns of the business community and to convey to their governments the business views formulated by ICC.

http://www.iccwbo.org/home/icc_and_united_nations/working_with_un.asp
Working with the UN
Current joint projects with the UN and its agencies
The UN and ICC are engaged in a series of initiatives that give substance to Kofi Annan’s "global compact" and these are only a beginning. Some have been in place for several years and continue to produce results. Others are more recent.Here are some items. Technical though many of them are, all contribute to the objectives set at the New York meeting of ICC and UN leaders:
Agriculture
Energy Environment
Health Intellectual Property
Investment
Telecommunications
Trade
Transport

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

http://www.wbcsd.ch/
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a coalition of 120 international companies committed to sustainable development. Members are drawn from 30 countries and more than 20 major industrial sectors. Information on the WBCSD's Corporate Social Responsibility Stakeholder Dialogue, The Netherlands, 6 - 8 September, 1998

WBCSD in collaboration with United Nations

http://www.wbcsd.ch/UNbusiness/unwbcsd.htm#current

International Aid and Trade

http://www.aidandtrade.com/
Conference & Exhibition in New York 31 May - 1 June 2000
Every year in New York City, International Aid & Trade brings together heads of UN agencies, government and NGO representatives, and major international CEOs to strengthen the partnership between the United Nations and the private sector. This event allows UN and business executives to review their joint projects on an annual basis, define future directions, and draw lessons from their collaboration. Corporations showcase their goods and services to the community of UN and World Bank procurement officers and find out about upcoming contracts and trends.
International Aid & Trade 2000 is a unique event. It will be the first time that heads of UN agencies, CEOs, and representatives from governments and NGOs come together under one roof in New York City to strengthen their partnership around the world. Corporations will display their equipment and expertise. Procurement officers from the UN and the World Bank will visit the exhibition and explain their bidding procedures at a special workshop. UN officials will explain why the United Nations must work with business in the next century to reduce poverty, safeguard the environment, and maintain an open economy that benefits all countries. UN and business representatives will sit at the same table to develop concrete projects in a country recovering from conflict.

http://www.copenhagencentre.com/
The Copenhagen Centre – New Partnership for Social Responsibility was established to stimulate the creation of partnerships between the public and private sectors with the purpose of promoting social cohesion and fighting social exclusion. Its primary geographic scope is Europe, but the Centre believes in sharing experience with any governmental or non-governmental organisation or private enterprise, which combat social exclusion.

http://www.bsr.org/
BSR's mission is to help its member companies achieve long-term commercial success by implementing policies and practices that honor high ethical standards and meet their responsibilities to all who are impacted by their decisions.
Sections on BSR Education Funds: 
Business and Human Rights Programme
Community Economic Development

http://www.bsr.org/resourcecenter/
The Resource Center provides businesses with the information they need to understand and implement more responsible policies and practices, and promotes increased knowledge and collaboration among companies and between business and other sectors. It aims at helping companies achieve sustained commercial success in ways that honor high ethical standards and benefit people, communities, and the environment.
The Global Business Responsibility Resource Center is a resource covering the full spectrum of corporate social responsibility issues. At the heart of the Center is a growing collection of topic overviews providing basic information, company examples, and links to helping resources. The website is the Center's primary vehicle for disseminating this information. Over time, the Center will develop a comprehensive set of strategic tools and trainings, and engage in consultations.
Topics include

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions

http://www.icftu.org/english/equality

Trade, Labour Standards, Development, Employment, Health and Safety, Environment, Structural Adjustment, Research

http://www.cmt-wcl.org/en/normcamp.html#child
Human Right and International Labour Standards Department

http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/resources
Here you find some lists of WWW sites which may be of interest to people doing research in the various branches of applied ethics. Note that these lists are not limited to sites about applied ethics.