In his address to a United Nations’ educational conference in New York today Ethical Funds vice president of Socially Responsible Investing Policy and Research, Robert Walker, encouraged delegates to endorse policy recommendations governing the practices of international business and financial communities.

Among the policy recommendations presented to UN delegates, Walker called upon governments to: broaden the definition of fiduciary duty; integrate socially responsible investing principles into public investment policy; establish disclosure regulations that help investors integrate social and environmental values into the investment process; and, support civil and political rights and freedoms around the world.

He also recommended that regulators implement rules and regulations that allow shareholders to bring broader stakeholder concerns to the attention of corporate managers. And, he called on securities regulators to implement disclosure laws as part of their listing requirements.

“The growth of SRI is a necessary condition for advancing toward a more inclusive and equitable global economic system and a just and sustainable society. It is guided by the same values that have inspired the work of the UN over the past fifty years,” stated Walker. “Human rights and environmental protection are the foundation of economic and social progress. Corporations must help reinforce this foundation.”

The International Conference on Financing for Development represents the first summit-level meeting convened by the UN to address key financial and related issues pertaining to global development. The conference will help set the agenda for the Corporate Accountability session of the Earth Summit in South Africa in September 2002.