Are you confident in your human rights due diligence processes?

The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark from the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) was published on 16 November ranking over 200 companies across six major themes: including Governance and Policy Commitments, Embedding Respect & Human Rights in Due Diligence, Remedy and Grievance Mechanisms, Company Human Rights Practices, and Response to Serious Allegations and Transparency.

More than half of respondents were unable to show they were implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the flagship standard in this area. Equally concerning to the organization was the fact that little to no improvement has been made in the last year.

Against the backdrop of likely significant investor interest in the way in which corporates address human rights risks and impacts thanks to the EU's sustainable finance package, and potential incoming EU legislation which would mandate human rights due diligence, managing human rights risks and impacts should be a key area of focus for corporates in the year to come.