The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) is the world’s first benchmark focused exclusively on human rights, targeted at answering which companies perform best in human rights terms. It ranks some of the biggest companies in the world on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other internationally recognised human rights and industry standards. This performance has become increasingly relevant to a wide range of audiences: investors are looking at which companies may present human rights related risks in their portfolio and have board and management structures prepared to take on and address new issues; the increasing focus on global value chains means that companies are being judged on how they are addressing human rights risks down complex supply chains including facing questions from their customers and in some cases their suppliers; governments, stock exchanges and international standard setting bodies are looking for more meaningful disclosure on human rights; and civil society continues to hold business to account for involvement in human rights harm. The CHRB contributes to this discussion by providing a solid evidence base to understand where large companies are doing well on addressing human rights risk and where they need to improve.
The first benchmark results, published in March 2017, rank 98 of the world’s largest publicly traded companies in the extractives, agricultural and apparel sectors on 100 human rights indicators (based on publicly available information) and includes some of the largest Asian companies and global companies with significant Asian supply chains, including several Australian listed companies. Please visit the CHRB website for more information on the methodology and results. (A licensed Australian benchmark is also expected for release shortly.)
Help Shape the Next Benchmark
Following the publication of CHRB’s pilot results and before moving on to the next iteration of the Benchmark (which will include additional sectors as well as more Australian companies), CHRB is taking some time to reflect and gather feedback on the first iteration of the Benchmark and all the processes accompanying it, with a view to strengthening the CHRB going forward including its effectiveness for different stakeholder groups. We would benefit from your insights. This business-only consultation in Melbourne, co-hosted with the Global Compact Network Australia, is part of a series of consultations that CHRB is convening across the world to seek feedback from stakeholders – business, civil society and government – on the CHRB methodology, process and data presentation to date. Given the nature of the CHRB the discussion will likely also involve a discussion around trends in human rights reporting.
Agenda for the Meeting
- Presentation of CHRB & brief overview of 2017 Pilot Results
- Open discussion: your observations, issues and concerns with the CHRB
- Focused discussion on proposed methodology changes
- Next steps: How to move forward
Registration
Please note this forum is invitation only and business only. CHRB is convening a separate civil society consultation session.
If you are interested in attending or have any queries about this session, please contact: secretariat@unglobalcompact.org.au
For further information on CHRB, contact: Margaret.Wachenfeld@corporatebenchmark.org
