Global Compact Network UK

Global Compact Network UK is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to connecting UK-based companies and civil society to the UN Global Compact, advancing responsible business practices through the Ten Principles on human rights, labour standards, environment, and anti-corruption to drive progress on UN Sustainable Development Goals. Core values emphasize responsible corporate citizenship, transparency, ethical conduct, environmental stewardship, and multi-stakeholder partnerships, with a philosophy of catalyzing business culture shifts for systemic change. They prioritize collective action, peer learning, and capacity building to integrate sustainability into core strategies, believing lasting impact arises from cross-sector collaboration embedding equity, integrity, and social responsibility in operations to benefit employees, suppliers, and communities.

Thematic priorities center on human rights protections including non-discrimination and fair working conditions for diverse workforces, labour standards promoting decent employment and supply chain ethics, environmental due diligence through decarbonisation, responsible resource use, biodiversity conservation, and climate action, alongside anti-corruption measures combating illicit financial flows and enhancing business integrity and corporate transparency. Supported activities include knowledge sharing platforms, events, peer learning networks, capacity building sessions like Dialogue for Growth for ESG integration and sustainability leadership training, policy advocacy for ethical regulations and reporting, and collaborative initiatives fostering inclusive resilient businesses contributing to community development, social cohesion, and poverty alleviation via SDG-aligned interventions. Beneficiaries encompass UK corporate members from multinationals to SMEs across sectors, their employees facing workplace inequities, suppliers in global chains needing ethical upgrades, and wider communities impacted by business operations, with strong alignment for civil society partners delivering advocacy, training, and peer support on business accountability, ethical supply chains, and environmental justice.

They provide no project grants or core funding, offering exclusively non-financial support through networks and collaboration. Distinctive focus lies in convening business-led multi-stakeholder action for long-term systems change, prioritizing organizations championing cross-sector SDG progress, evidence-based sustainability practices, and policy reforms over direct service delivery, with niche emphasis on European anti-corruption and UK sustainability capacity for ethical, inclusive enterprises serving underserved supply chain workers and environmentally vulnerable communities.