A COP must be submitted at the latest 12 months from the date of joining and every 12 months thereafter. Note: Business participants that joined before 1 July 2009 still have two years from their date of joining to submit their first COP. Business participants are required to submit to the Global Compact COP database an electronic version of their COP (preferably a PDF file) and, if available, a link (URL) to the web page that contains their COP. Additionally, participants must complete a brief questionnaire on the content of their COP.
Differentiation
Business participants that submit a timely COP will be classified in one of two categories:
- A business participant that submits a timely COP that meets all the COP requirements will be categorized as "GC Active".
- A business participant that goes beyond the minimum COP requirements by adopting and reporting on a range of sustainability governance and management processes can self-declare themselves as "GC Advanced".
"Learner COP" Status
A business participant whose submitted COP does not meet the requirements (see Section 1 above) will be given a one-time 12-months "Learner Status" to submit a new COP that meets all requirements. During that time, participants will receive active support and assistance from the UN Global Compact Office and from their Local Network through the Learner Platform.
Non-communicating Status
A business participant will be designated "non-communicating" on the UN Global Compact website if:
- it fails to submit a COP within the required deadlines (see Section 2 of COP Requirements above).
- it fails to submit a COP that meets all requirements (see Section 1 of COP Requirements above) within the Learner grace period.
- it fails more than once to submit a COP that meets all COP requirements within the required deadlines
Expulsion from the UN Global Compact
If a non-communicating participant fails to submit a COP that meets all COP requirements within a year of becoming non-communicating, it will be expelled from the UN Global Compact and the name of expelled participants will be made public on the UN Global Compact website. All organizations that have been expelled must re-apply to join the initiative.
