Thousands of U.S. companies have signed onto the United Nations Global Compact, which calls upon sustainable businesses to “create the world we want.” That goal is running up hard against the authoritarian trend in national politics.

With the Compact slated to meet later this week, it is incumbent upon U.S. business leaders to act in support of voting rights and the democratic process here in the U.S., as well as abroad…

“Corporate sustainability starts with a company’s value system and a principles-based approach to doing business. This means operating in ways that, at a minimum, meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption,” the Compact states….As a global endeavor that includes 12,000 companies in 160 companies, the Global Compact does not make judgements on many matters pertaining to cultural norms and political systems. However, it does render forceful judgement on practices that violate fundamental values, and one of those values is racial equality….

That focus has become a keen embarrassment for U.S. corporations that seek to build a socially responsible profile as members of the Global Compact. cAs applied to the U.S., Ojiambo’s insistence on the eradication in “racism in all its forms” is clearly a call for U.S. business leaders to speak out more forcefully against the torrent of anti-Black voter suppression legislation sweeping across almost every state in the U.S.

Global Compact Calls on Sustainable Businesses to Combat Authoritarianism in the U.S: Will They, or Won’t They?