A new report is giving many global companies poor marks for their performance on protecting human rights.
The study, conducted by the U.K. non-profit organization Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), finds that 40 percent of the 101 large companies it reviewed failed to show evidence of identifying or mitigating human rights issues in their supply chains, as required by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Among the worst performers, according to CHRB, are Starbucks, Prada, and Kraft Heinz. Leading companies include Adidas and Rio Tinto.
Of the 101 major extractive, agricultural, and clothing or footwear companies ranked by the 2018 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, 40 are failing to demonstrate respect for human rights on paper or in practice, the study finds.
“While we see clear progress from some companies, the majority are failing to make the grade. Seventy years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this is very concerning,” says Margaret Wachenfeld, an independent director of CHRB and co-lead of the CHRB methodology committee.
CHRB measures how companies perform across 100 indicators based on the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights. It uses publicly available information on issues such as forced labor, protecting human rights activists, and the living wage to give companies a maximum possible score of up to 100 percent. In this year’s ranking, two-thirds of companies scored less than 30 percent overall.
“The average score across all companies has increased since the first report last year, but remains unacceptably low at 27 percent.” CHRB states in the study. The research shows that overall businesses need to get better at “walking the talk” by matching their paper commitments with clear, consistent action when human rights abuses or risks are identified.
Companies at the top end of the rankings demonstrated that identifying and managing risks is a key part of their core business. They scored particularly well on transparency of human rights policies and practices. Meanwhile companies at the bottom of the ranking failed to show any engagement with human rights concerns. This should raise urgent questions for investors and consumers as to whether these companies are serious about avoiding harm to people in their pursuit of profits.
“Forced and child labor, gender equality, and protecting activists are some of the most pressing issues of our time,” says John Morrison, chief executive of the Institute of Human Rights and Business. “Companies need to show how they’re addressing these challenges, to protect themselves from legal penalties or action from investors and consumers.”
Other key findings:
- Virtually no companies demonstrate strong commitments to ensuring living wages are paid to workers in their own operations and supply chains.
- Less than 10 percent of companies commit to respecting human rights defenders (HRDs), including those HRDs exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, public assembly and protest.
- There is a clear gap between companies acknowledging allegations and actually engaging with those affected.
CHRB is calling on companies to improve their performance on human rights, and to use the scoring system to understand where such improvements can be made. It is also calling on investors to challenge poorly performing companies and to use their leverage to drive improvements. Investment companies Aviva, APG, and Nordea, who manage over a trillion dollars between them, have all confirmed that the 2018 benchmark will be used to inform their investment decisions. 
I would love to see this brought more into the public eye, at least as a positive step and who knows what other positive action could be taken!