The Report “The Human Rights Opportunity: 15 real-life cases of how business is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals by putting people first”, launched by Shift in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), seeks to inspire transformative business action, that goes beyond the “do not harm” principleand invites private sector to be more proactive in implementing the key tenets of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs)in order “to break down significant barriers to development and positively impact the lives of millions of the most vulnerable individuals in society” and support Agenda 2030.
“It is less well recognized that embedding respect for human rights incompany operations and along corporate value chains is one of the most significant opportunities business has to advance the SDG agenda”, – says te Report.
Against this background the Report brings together two global agendas. 15 case studies, chosen by the authors of the Report demonstrate how private sector can play a crucial role in achieving the SDGs and the realization of universal human rights for all through mobilizing innovation, leadership, influence and partnerships to address most complex and damaging global challenges to people — living wages, modern slavery, discrimination and land rights.
Living wages:“More than 450 million people work in global supply chain related jobs. When combined with these workers’ families, the number of individuals directly affected by wage-setting in global value chains rises to 2 billion” – says the Report.
Forced labour: Approximately 16 million victims of forced labor are in the private economy.On any given day, according to the most recent estimates, nearly 25 million people are living under conditions of forced labor; 71% of them are women and girls.
Gender equality(discrimination): Globally, working women still earn 24% less than men on average, experience different forms of abuse of the rights at work place and home.
Land rights:Business activities can have a wide range of impacts on people in relation to land, “where access to, use of and control over land directly affect people’s enjoyment of human rights”, particularly, in the context of business impacts on indigenous populations. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, “[a]n increasing number of people are forcibly evicted or displaced from their land to make way for largescale development or business projects, such as dams, mines, oil and gas installations or ports.”
The Report shows how the companies (multinationals and SMEs) address these challenges in their supply chains through wage living strategies (H&M Group Fair Living Wage Strategy),industry-wide collective bargaining linked to purchasing practices (ACT initiative), government engagement, consultation with the stakeholders, sustainable prcurement practices, etc.
The Report underlines the interlinked character between sustainability and respect of human rights. “There cannot be a tradeoff between two means of contributing to the SDGs: tackling salient risks on the one hand and providing beneficial products, services or investments on the other”
The background note:
Shiftisthe leading center of expertise on the UNGPsfollowing the 2011 unanimous endorsement of the Guiding Principles by the UN Human Rights Council. Shift’s founders were part of Professor Ruggie’s core advisory team, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights. Professor Ruggie is the Chair of Shift’s Board of Trustees.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)is a global, CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses and partners working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. WBCSD member companies come from all business sectors and all major economies, representing combined revenues of more than USD $8.5 trillion and 19 million employees. The WBCSD global network of almost 70 national business councils gives members unparalleled reach across the globe. WBCSD is uniquely positioned to work with member companies along and across value chains to deliver impactful business solutions to the most challenging sustainability issues.
