5.1 Why this Commitment
AI is changing how organisations make decisions, use data, employ people, consume energy and invest capital, faster than most governance systems can keep up.
The global frameworks that guide responsible business are still the right foundation:
- the UN Global Compact Ten Principles (human rights, labour, environment, anti-corruption), launched in 2000
- the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), launched in 2006
- Public Interest Capitalism, proposed by Ambassador George Hara, Honorary Chairman of ESGIN, which asks a more fundamental question: for whom does a company create value, and how is that value shared?
But these principles were written before generative AI. Many organisations already agree with them in principle, yet find it hard to answer a simple question: "What exactly should we do differently next year?"
The Commitment was designed to close that gap: to turn widely accepted principles into specific, current and measurable actions that a company, investor, school, foundation or public body can start on immediately.
5.2 ESGIN's initiatives under the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance
The Commitment is led under EEA and Responsible AI, which hold the framework, record commitments on the UN platform and lead annual tracking. FIH and RDY are related ESGIN initiatives.
| Initiative | Focus | Link to the Commitment |
|---|
| EEA (Ethical Economy Accelerator) | Accelerating the transition to an ethical, accountable economy | Main supporting initiative. Leads the business transformation side of the Commitment: fair distribution, responsible capital, climate and integrity. |
| Responsible AI | Accountable, transparent and human-centred AI | Main supporting initiative. Leads the AI side of the Commitment: AI governance, data, people and skills in the AI era. |
| FIH (Future Intelligence Hub) | Future intelligence, foresight and innovation | Related initiative. Connects commitments to future-ready practice in cities, education and industry |
| RDY (Responsible Digital for Youth) | Protecting and empowering young people in the digital world | Related initiative. Directly reflected in the action Safe-by-design for young users |
5.3 Theory of change
ESGIN's Theory of Change is Connect, Share, Learn, Act and Lead. ESGIN's convenings and networks help leaders connect, share and learn; the Commitment is where this turns into Act and Lead. It gives every participant a concrete next step, and gives ESGIN a shared record to follow up on year after year.
5.4 Public Interest Capitalism
Public Interest Capitalism was proposed by Ambassador George Hara, Honorary Chairman of ESGIN. Ambassador Hara is Group Chairman of DEFTA Partners and Chairman of the Alliance Forum Foundation. The concept grew out of his decades as a technology venture investor in Silicon Valley, where he saw how the view that "a company belongs to its shareholders" drives short-term profit seeking, holds down wages, cuts long-term research and widens inequality.
What "public interest" means. Public Interest Capitalism is neither shareholder capitalism nor state capitalism. It is capitalism that pursues the interest of society as a whole: the economic and spiritual prosperity of ourselves and our descendants.
A company is a public institution of society. A company earns profit because it contributes to society through good products and services. As a public institution it cannot be short-lived: it has a responsibility to keep generating profit, enrich its people and enrich society.
Stakeholders / company community. A company belongs to its stakeholders / company community: all the people and partners who support it and build its future together. (Ambassador Hara's original Japanese term is Shachu.) They include:
- employees
- customers
- suppliers and business partners
- local communities
- the earth
- medium- to long-term shareholders
Stakeholders in this sense are not parties with competing interests. They are partners whose relationship is based on trust and mutual support. By contributing to all its stakeholders / company community, a company increases its corporate value and, as a result, brings significant returns to its medium- to long-term shareholders.
Purpose. By distributing the value it creates fairly to its stakeholders / company community, a company helps create an educated, healthy and prosperous middle class, the foundation of a stable and peaceful society.
Three principles for practice (used as references in this framework):
| # | Principle | What it means |
|---|
| PIC 1 | Fair and appropriate distribution to stakeholders / company community | Profit is not distributed mainly to shareholders, but fairly to all stakeholders / the company community, including employees, and the total amount distributed grows. |
| PIC 2 | Medium- to long-term sustainability | Sustainable growth cannot come from chasing short-term profit; management is guided by a firm medium- to long-term perspective. |
| PIC 3 | Entrepreneurial spirit | The company improves its products and services every day, and boldly moves into new fields to sustain its growth. |
Why it matters in the AI era. AI can either concentrate gains in a few hands or spread them across society. Public Interest Capitalism gives the Commitment a clear test for every AI decision: does it create value that is shared fairly with stakeholders / the company community, and is it built for the medium to long term? Three actions put this test directly into practice: 3.5 Share AI productivity gains, 3.6 Living wage and fair pay and 5.7 Long-term investment in people and innovation.
How it complements UNGC and PRI.
| Framework | Main question it answers |
|---|
| UN Global Compact | What must a responsible business respect and avoid? |
| PRI | How should investors take ESG into account? |
| Public Interest Capitalism | For whom does a company create value, over what time horizon, and how is that value shared with stakeholders / the company community? |
5.5 Alignment with international AI governance frameworks
The AI-related actions in this Commitment are aligned with two layers of international AI governance. No single framework does everything: the first layer sets shared values, the second turns them into day-to-day management practice.
Layer 1. Values and international consensus
| Framework | What it is | Role in the Commitment |
|---|
| UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance | Intergovernmental forum established by the UN General Assembly in 2025, together with the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI | The global setting for ESGIN's initiatives (EEA, Responsible AI, FIH, RDY). The Commitment is ESGIN's practical contribution to it. |
| UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI (2021) | The first global standard on AI ethics, adopted by all UNESCO Member States | Values such as human oversight, privacy, fairness, sustainability and AI literacy; especially relevant to youth protection (RDY) |
| OECD AI Principles (2019, updated 2024) | The first intergovernmental AI standard, adhered to by OECD members and partner countries | Five values-based principles: inclusive growth and well-being; human rights, fairness and privacy; transparency and explainability; robustness, security and safety; accountability |
Layer 2. Practical standards for organisations
| Framework | What it is | Role in the Commitment |
|---|
| ISO/IEC 42001 (2023) | The first international, certifiable management system standard for AI | Gives organisations a recognised way to show that their AI governance actions (registers, owners, incident handling, training) are in place |
| NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0, 2023) | A free, voluntary framework from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, organised in four functions: Govern, Map, Measure, Manage | A practical toolkit for identifying and managing AI risks, often used alongside ISO/IEC 42001 |
Why this matters for participants. An organisation that chooses actions such as an AI register, human oversight or incident reporting is also taking concrete steps towards ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI RMF, and is acting in line with the values agreed at UNESCO and the OECD.
5.6 Design principles
| Principle | What it means |
|---|
| 1. Grounded and purposeful | Every action is linked to the UN Global Compact, PRI, Public Interest Capitalism or international AI governance frameworks (all shown in section 6.5), and serves one purpose: a company as a public institution of society, sharing value fairly over the medium to long term. |
| 2. Practical, not abstract | Each action is a specific practice with clear steps, not a value statement. |
| 3. Honest about blind spots | Each action names the gaps organisations most often miss, so commitments address real risks rather than appearances. |
| 4. Progress at your own level | Three maturity levels (Starting, Established, Leading) let every organisation, large or small, start where it is and keep improving. |
| 5. Measurable and evidenced | Every action has a clearly defined measure and examples of evidence, so progress can be checked rather than claimed. |
| 6. Choose what fits | There is no fixed number of actions. Well-chosen commitments are more likely to be delivered than long lists. |
| 7. Open to every type of organisation | Each action states who it applies to: all organisations, organisations using AI, employers, companies, investors, or organisations whose products are used by young people. |
