International Codes and Conventions: Are Pension Funds Missing in Action?

Abstract

The growing global influence of corporations has led to the development of a vast range of norms, codes, and conventions that seek to govern their behavior, focusing on diverse topics from human rights to the environment. The process around creating, ratifying, and implementing norms, codes, and conventions typically involves corporations, governments, and non-governmental organizations, but not investors. While investors increasingly utilize these instruments in several ways, there is a missed opportunity to involve them in their development, implementation, and ongoing governance. Much work needs to be done to address this “investor exclusion problem” and more formally embed investors as a stakeholder in emerging global governance structures.

Keywords: Asset Owners, Codes of Conduct, Conventions, Pension Fund, Sustainable Investing