To address inequality, companies should put human rights at the core of how they do business

根据 2022年世界不平等报告, the richest 10% of the global population takes 52% of global income and owns 76% of all wealth, 而最贫穷的一半人口的收入只有8美元.占全球收入的5%和财富的2%. There are many historical, structural and political causes of such high levels of inequality. But one important factor is undoubtedly the role that business has played – over decades of globalization and deregulation – in externalizing costs and risks onto the most vulnerable workers, 社区和消费者. 

Looking at the imbalances and injustices that are ailing our societies as a result, John Ruggie他在2008年写道 向联合国人权理事会提交报告 that “corporate-related human rights abuses are the canary in the coal mine, 表明一切都不顺利.他继续开发 联合国指导原则 on Business and 人权 – which crystallized the responsibility of all companies to respect human rights – as a key antidote. 

After many years in which companies had tried to make sense of piecemeal and burgeoning ‘social’ concerns such as diversity and inclusion, 数据隐私, 供应链中的工资和工时, 强迫劳动, 和更多的, the UNGPs showed that there is in fact a single logic for companies to grasp.  所有 these issues come down to whether companies pursue their activities and business relationships in ways that uphold or undermine the basic dignity and equality – that is, 所有人的人权, 尤其是那些已经处于最弱势的群体.  

这是通过有效的人权尽职调查程序, 以及能够弥补伤害的制度, that companies can stop chasing the last issue in the latest news cycle and start ensuring systematically that their company is part of the solution to inequality. And while there are many ways in which applying this human rights lens helps bring actions for tackling inequality into focus, 四个脱颖而出. 

第一个, respect for human rights is not primarily an exercise in compliance but in building a culture where people are treated decently. 企业文化从公司高层开始 and will show up in how people in its own workforce are treated – in hiring and promotion decisions, 在支付体面和公平的工资方面, 管理者在会议室与人们互动的方式, 在饮水机旁, 在作业地点和设施. And it demands consistency between statements of intent in paper-based policies and codes on the one hand, 另一方面是整个公司员工的日常工作. If a code of conduct tells suppliers to avoid unpaid overtime and unsafe practices, 公司自己的采购人员保证他们的价格吗, 时间表和付款条件都是可行的? Are complaints processes that promise to address concerns 关于 harassment, safety or discrimination operated in ways that give people confidence that they can come forward in good faith and achieve remedy for wrongs? 

第二个, the responsibility to respect human rights starts 与 decisions by boards and top executives 关于 the company’s business model and strategy. 如果一个企业以某种方式将风险嵌入到弱势群体中 并加剧不平等，任何合规计划都无法改变这一点.  If executives adapt their business model to offer customers high-speed delivery, they need to consider how warehouse workers and drivers can meet those promises 与out compromising their health and safety or ability to earn a living wage. Before boards agree on a new strategy to capture data from consumers for marketing purposes, they should scrutinize how that data will be kept secure and used in ways that avoid discrimination and abuse.

第三,尽管 会说话的 关于 影响利益相关者 can help change perspectives 关于 whose interests should shape business decisions, it’s 会说话的 与 影响利益相关者 – a central feature of human rights due diligence – that is key to improving the outcomes they experience. Companies cannot understand how their actions may affect people’s livelihoods or well-being through desk-based analysis alone. Nor can they cut quickly to the solutions that will avoid harms 与out listening to those concerned. It’s by bringing affected groups into the conversation that companies gain insight into the potential consequences of different decisions for those whose welfare may be at disproportionate risk.   

第四, the human rights causes and consequences of inequality cannot be resolved by individual companies acting alone. 真正的进步通常需要与行业伙伴合作, 政府, 工会, 民间社会组织, 或者国际组织. 通常是这样的 集体和创造性地使用杠杆 envisioned in the 联合国指导原则 that makes the difference in practice. 此外, 此类举措不能止步于一两个“试点项目”, 他们是否在寻求解决共享供应链中的强迫劳动问题, move workers towards living wages or define principles for the responsible use of algorithms. They need the backing of top executives so that the improvements they identify can be embedded across the organization and wider industry and help to systematically reduce inequalities. 

There are many ways we can talk 关于 inequality and many lenses through which we can analyze its causes and consequences. But if companies are to step up and play the role they should in tackling inequality and building more sustainable societies, they must first double down on their efforts to do business 与 respect for human rights.

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卡罗琳·里斯 是 转变, the leading center of expertise on the 联合国指导原则 on Business and 人权.