Human rights are a dominant sustainability issue for companies. In recent years, we have tragically witnessed disasters like the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh or the Brumadinho damn in Brazil, which were the result of business negligent behavior and ended up in death and environmental destruction.

The S&P Global report on business and human rights, however, shows there has also been progress in the last decade. The unanimous endorsement of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 marked a milestone. Companies have since turned to these principles as a framework for their commitment, policies, due diligence processes, and mitigation and remediation actions. Much work still needs to be done though as the global landscape is complex and evidences industry and regional specific needs and a lack of reporting.

The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights has launched a project to map a course of action. The goal is to provide insights on the achievements made and highlight the challenges and opportunities which will steer the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in the next decade. S&P Global was invited to participate and has proudly collaborated on the UN project.

Business and Human Rights: Towards a Decade of Global Implementation is the embodiment of S&P Global collaboration with the UN project. This report will give you better and deeper understanding of the global business and human rights implementation landscape and trends, tapping the data and insights produced by the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA).