Towards responsible lobbying: leadership and public policy

This report sheds light on the way in which organisations, in particular business, influence the goals of sustainable development through their lobbying processes, and how governments in turn influence the lobbying ‘supply chain’. The report defines, and offers guidance to organisations in their approach towards responsible lobbying, as well as showing policy makers how such lobbying can help shape their capacity to develop and implement policies which support sustainable development.

General points made by the report include:

• lobbying comes in many forms: submitting formal responses to government over proposed legislation, the employment of professional lobbyists; membership of associations that lobby for collective interests, etc.
• while business lobbying is a legitimate activity in a democratic society, there is no doubt that some business lobbying has been neither transparent nor ‘progressive’, and certainly inconsistent with sustainable development
• lobbying does not operate on a level playing field. Interests groups do not have equal influence over policy decisions
• governments should be open to the positive role of business in public policy, without providing the business community with undue influence.

The report defines responsible lobbying as the following:

• being consistent with an organization’s stated policies, commitments to stakeholders, and core strategy and actions
• advancing the implementation of universal principles and values (such as those embodied in the UN Global Compact) in business practice

A six-step ‘lobbing health-check’ has been developed by the report, drawing on existing quality, accountability and reporting standards and guidelines:

• alignment of goals and commitments with core business strategy and actions
• assessing materiality
• stakeholder engagement
• reporting on influence
• mapping the people involved in lobbying activities
• ensuring robust management of lobbying activities