NEW PUBLICATION: Danish companies struggle to demonstrate respect for human rights.
A new benchmark of 30 of the largest companies in Denmark reveals that the companies are not doing enough to demonstrate they live up to their human rights responsibilities.
The benchmark, we have conducted in collaboration with EIRIS Foundation, using World Benchmarking Alliance’s CHRB - Corporate Human Rights Benchmark–indicators, considers the companies’ own policies and reporting on whether and how they avoid and address negative impacts on human rights associated with their business activities.
📌 While nearly all of the companies commit to respect human rights, most struggle to show that they’re putting these commitments into practice.
📌 None of the companies fully meet the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights #UNGPs - the average alignment score is 40%.
📌 Highest performing indicators have to do with human rights commitments and policies, lowest performing indicators with tracking effectiveness of mitigating actions, engaging with affected stakeholders and providing access to remedy for victims.
Mette Thygesen, the International Director Danish Institute for Human Rights, finds this very concerning:
“It’s worrying that, even after ten years of the UNGPs being endorsed, Denmark’s biggest companies still aren’t documenting the respect for human rights that’s expected.”
This year's results are particularly interesting in light of related incoming EU legislation on corporate sustainability, such as #CSRD and #CSDDD. The benchmark results confirm the relevance of these regulations and highlight that improving performance will be key to meeting regulatory requirements underway.
Find the full report below:
