The Business Leadership in Society Database, launched in 2020, profiled leading industry and civil initiatives working to set standards for responsible business and address Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. The database was designed to provide investors, business leaders and academics with easy access to information on initiatives relevant to their industry or interests. By increasing the access to these initiatives, High Meadows Institute and its partners sought to advance the work undertaken by each initiative individually and collectively.
The database contained over 200 initiatives, operating at both a country level and globally, and was based on publicly available information. It included two types of initiatives: Industry Associations and Partnerships.
Industry Associations encompass coalitions where the industry leaders themselves have taken collective action within the industry or with other stakeholders to set voluntary standards around ESG issues.
Partnerships are collaborations that bring together a variety of stakeholders to work on sustainability issues, including but not limited to governments, civil society, NGOs, academia and business.
Together with basic background information on each initiative, we provided a summary assessment of key elements based on a 9-point assessment framework. The database could be searched by initiative or company and highlighted the top initiatives across all sectors.
The database is no longer maintained or updated, but we have archived the data here.