This resource provides a general overview of human rights benchmarks available to investors.
Benchmarks can support institutional investors to assess human rights performance of current and / or potential investee companies, thereby improving the quality of investment decisions and stewardship. The designs and methodologies of these benchmarks are the result of engagements and partnerships with investors, consultants, stakeholders and industry experts undertaken by benchmark organisations. The PRI was not involved in the development phases of these benchmarks, and the purpose of this overview is to share with our signatories and the broader investor community external resources that are available to them.
This document provides the following information for each benchmark:
- General context and objective
- Methodological approach
- Sector scope
- Company scope
- Geographical coverage (company headquarters)
- Topical focus
The benchmarks are listed alphabetically below, and a link is provided to each benchmark for further details.
Sector designations and labels vary slightly across benchmarks. In this document, the words ‘sector’ and ‘industry’ are interchangeable.
The summary table lists what sectors are covered in each benchmark, and details how they relate to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS). This enables side-by-side comparison of sector coverage.
Why and how investors should act on human rights
Just as for businesses, institutional investors have a responsibility to respect human rights. This responsibility is formalised in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Investors are now expected to play an active and significant role in shaping real-world, positive outcomes for people. This role is not only crucial to meet the evolving demands of beneficiaries, clients and regulators, but also to attain better financial risk management.
In October 2020, the PRI released its position paper on human rights, which sets out clear expectations for investors based on global standards and recommends how to integrate human rights into investment practices. Additionally, our case studies show how signatories are incorporating human rights considerations into investment practices across asset classes.
Key human rights benchmarks
Access to Medicine Index
The Access to Medicine Foundation and its Access to Medicine (ATM) Index are dedicated to stimulating and guiding the pharmaceutical industry to do more for people living in low and middle-income countries. This has become even more important amidst international calls for sustained action to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage by 2030.
Methodology
The ATM Index measures companies’ actions to improve access to medicine across the 108 countries where it is most needed. A total of 83 high-burden diseases, conditions and pathogens are investigated. A ‘report card’ is given to each company, outlining how each has performed, its official score, and what tangible steps it could take to increase access to medicine. The three areas included in the index are:
- Governance of access
- Research and development
- Product delivery
Website
https://accesstomedicinefoundation.org/access-to-medicine-index
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 20 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies | Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, UK, US |
Access to medicine across 108 countries that are selected based on three criteria:
|
Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark
The Access to Medicine Foundation and its Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Benchmark are dedicated to ensuring medicines and vaccines are available to patients who need them and in areas where the risk of drug-resistant infections is greatest. The AMR Benchmark assesses how the pharmaceutical industry is responding to the challenge of drug-resistant infections.
Methodology
The AMR Benchmark measures companies’ performance across 20 indicators, which are organised into three research areas. Each company is ranked in terms of its performance, given an official score, and advised on what tangible steps it could take to combat antimicrobial resistance. The three areas of exposure are:
- Research and development
- Responsible manufacturing
- Appropriate access and stewardship
Website
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 17 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies (eight large research-based companies and nine generic medicine manufacturers) | China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, US |
Health: the pharmaceutical industry’s response to AMR |
Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index
The Access to Nutrition Foundation is dedicated to addressing the world’s global nutrition challenges and encouraging healthier diets for all. The Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index aims to drive positive changes in terms of diet, nutrition and health issues, specifically in India. It ranks companies and allows investors to track commitments to improving food systems and increasing consumers’ access to nutritious products.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology has three components:
- Nutrition governance and management
- Formulating and delivering appropriate, affordable, accessible products
- Influencing consumer choice and behaviour
Website
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage | India’s 16 largest food and beverage manu-facturers of packaged products | India |
Health and nutrition |
Agribusiness Scorecard
Oxfam launched an Agribusiness Scorecard in 2019 to assess whether a selection of the most influential suppliers to Behind the Brands companies have policies that meet their customers’ expectations and adhere to international best practice standards. The scorecard is published every two years, with the latest published in 2021.
Methodology
The benchmark focuses on publicly disclosed policies relating to how target companies source high-risk agricultural commodities and target companies’ policies and practices on human rights in their supply chains. It assesses the companies’ social impacts on small-scale farmers, farm workers and local communities according to five themes. Each of the themes are measured across over 90 indicators, broken down by awareness, knowledge and disclosure, corporate commitments, implementation, and public advocacy. The five topical focus areas are:
- Women
- Land
- Small-scale producers
- Transparency and accountability
- Climate
Website
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/shining-a-spotlight/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage | Seven agribusinesses with ties to food and beverage companies, significantly to trade in sugar, coco and palm oil, as well as their importance in lower-income ‘hot-spots’ for social and environ-mental challenges | Netherlands, Singapore, UK, US |
Full range of human rights issues |
BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark
BankTrack is the international tracking, campaigning and civil society organisation targeting private sector commercial banks and the activities they finance. The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark aims to evaluate and assess banks’ progress in fulfilling the responsibilities established by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).
Methodology
The benchmark methodology examines four aspects of banks’ implementation of the UNGPs, namely:
- Policy commitment
- Human rights due diligence process
- Reporting on human rights and their approach to access to remedy
- Access to remedy
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banks | 50 large commercial banks | Global |
Full range of human rights issues |
Global Access to Nutrition Index
The Access to Nutrition Foundation is dedicated to addressing the world’s global nutrition challenges and encourage healthier diets for all. The Global Access to Nutrition Index is published every two to three years, with its fourth and latest index published in 2021. It ranks companies and allows investors to track companies’ commitments to improving food systems and increasing consumers’ access to nutritious products.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology has three components:
- Nutrition governance and management
- Formulating and delivering appropriate, affordable, accessible products
- Influencing consumer choice and behaviour
Website
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage | World’s 25 largest food and beverage manufacturers | Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, US |
Health and nutrition |
Global Child Forum Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights Benchmark Series
This benchmark series, co-developed by Global Child Forum and the Boston Consulting Group, enables investors to track businesses’ progress on addressing children’s rights.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology covers three impact areas, and each area is assessed based on three components:
- policies and commitments;
- implementation;
- reporting and action. The three impact areas are:
- Workplace (60%)
- Marketplace (10%)
- Community and environment (30%)
Website
https://www.globalchildforum.org/internal-report/global-benchmark-report-2021/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Companies are selected from the WBA’s list of 2,000 most influential companies. In its 2021 global benchmark, 832 companies are covered | To date, the Global Child Forum has produced three global and six regional studies of the Nordic region, the Middle East and Northern Africa, Southern Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, applying the same methodological approach |
Children’s rights, including:
Wider social impact, eg education and access to health |
Global Child Forum Global Benchmark 2022 – Tech and Telecom
This sector-specific benchmark, co-developed by Global Child Forum and the Boston Consulting Group, enables investors to track businesses’ progress on how they address children’s rights amidst heightened influence of the technology and telecommunications sector on children’s lives.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology covers three impact areas, and each area is assessed based on three components:
- policies and commitments;
- implementation;
- reporting and action. The three impact areas are:
- Workplace (60%)
- Marketplace (10%)
- Community and environment (30%)
Website
https://www.globalchildforum.org/internal-report/2022-tech-and-telecom-deep-dive/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
252 of the world’s most influential IT companies – 132 of them feature on the WBA’s SDG2000 list | Global |
Children’s rights, including:
|
Global Child Forum Global Benchmark 2022 – Food, Beverage and Personal Care
This sector-specific benchmark, co-developed by Global Child Forum and the Boston Consulting Group, enables investors to track businesses’ progress on how they address children’s rights in the food, beverage and personal care industries.
Methodology
This benchmark covers four impact areas, and each area is assessed based on three components: (i) policies and commitments; (ii) implementation; (iii) reporting and action. The four impact areas are:
- Governance and collaboration
- Workplace
- Marketplace
- Community and environment
Website
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
252 of the world’s most influential IT companies – 132 of them feature on the WBA’s SDG2000 list | Global |
Children’s rights, including:
|
Know The Chain
KnowTheChain is dedicated to advancing labour standards and protecting workers’ rights. It evaluates corporate efforts to assess forced labour risks in supply chains and publishes sector-specific benchmarks every two years to identify leaders and laggards in the target sectors.
Methodology
The KnowTheChain methodology is based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and covers policy commitments, due diligence and remedy. The methodology uses the ILO core labour standards (freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, and the elimination of forced labour, child labour, and discrimination) as a baseline. More specifically, the following seven areas are assessed:
- Commitments and governance
- Traceability and risk assessment
- Purchasing practices
- Recruitment
- Worker voice
- Monitoring
- Remedy
Website
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
185 publicly listed companies selected based on their size and the percentage of revenues derived from own-branded products | Global | Forced labour and labour rights |
Platform Living Wage Financials
The Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF) is an alliance of 19 financial institutions that encourages, supports, assesses and monitors companies with regard to their commitment to enable living wages and incomes for workers in their supply chains.
Methodology
The benchmark adopts a different set of indicators for each sector and is aligned with the reporting framework of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The apparel and footwear sector is assessed on the following seven areas, while the food and beverage and food retail sectors are assessed on the first six areas below:
- Policy
- Stakeholder engagement
- Assessing impacts
- Integrating findings and taking action
- Tracking performance
- Remediation
- Transparency
Websites
Apparel and footwear: https://www.livingwage.nl/platform-living-wage-financials/living-wage-assessment-methodology-background-and-qa/
Food and beverage: https://www.livingwage.nl/food-producers/
Food retail: https://www.livingwage.nl/food-retail/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
29 publicly listed apparel and footwear brands, 11 food and beverage companies, and 10 food retail companies | Global | Living wage and income in supply chains |
Racial Justice Scorecard
As You Sow’s Racial Justice Scorecard aims to promote equity and end corporate complicity in systemic racism. It monitors corporate responses to racial justice and follow up with companies to ensure that the statements of support for racial justice are translated into concrete actions.
Methodology
The scorecard evaluates target companies’ racial justice statements and corporate policies and practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental justice. The following seven areas are assessed:
- Racial justice statement
- Corporate responsibility
- Acknowledgement of key terms
- DEI department
- DEI data
- External actions
- Environmental justice
Website
https://www.asyousow.org/our-work/social-justice/racial-justice
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Russell 1,000 companies (1,000 largest public companies in the US) | US | Racial justice |
Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index and Scorecards
Ranking Digital Rights’ (RDR) Corporate Accountability Index and Scorecards aim to advance corporate accountability for human rights in the digital age.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology assesses companies on the following three areas:
- Governance (policies and practices)
- Freedom of expression and information
- Privacy
Websites
RDR Corporate Accountability Index: https://rankingdigitalrights.org/index2020/
RDR Big Tech Scorecard: https://rankingdigitalrights.org/index2022/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The world’s 26 most powerful digital platforms and telecommunications companies | China, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, UAE, UK, US, Qatar |
|
Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) is dedicated to advancing human rights in business and eradicating human rights abuse. The Renewable Energy and Human Rights benchmark aims to support a transition to a net-zero carbon economy without harming communities and workers.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology consists of two categories, each carrying a 50% weighting:
- core UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) indicators and
- renewable energy sector-specific risk indicators.
The following themes are covered under each category:
Core UNGPs indicators
- Governance and policy commitments
- Embedding respect and human rights due diligence
- Remedies and grievance mechanisms
Renewable energy sector-specific risk indicators
- Indigenous peoples’ and affected communities’ rights
- Land rights
- Security and high-risk contexts
- Human rights and environmental defenders
- Labour, health and safety
- Right to a healthy and clean environment
- Transparency and anti-corruption
- Equality and inclusion
Website
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/from-us/briefings/renewable-energy-human-rights-benchmark/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renewable energy | 15 publicly traded companies with the largest operating project capacity for wind and solar power, based on the Bloom-berg’s New Energy Finance Database | Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, US | Full range of human rights issues |
The Times Top 50 Employers for Women
Partnered with the Times, Business in the Community (BITC) assesses and publishes its annual Times Top 50 list to identify top companies that prioritise gender equality in the workplace.
Methodology
The scoring process consists of three independent rounds of blind assessment. Entrant organisations are assessed on their progress and examples of best practice, impact, innovation, and individual achievement on promoting workplace gender equality. A further appraisal of the lived experience of women employees was included to examine whether organisational policies are being translated into practice.
Website
https://www.bitc.org.uk/the-times-top-50-employers-for-women/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unspecified | Unspecified; companies must apply to be assessed by BITC | UK | Workplace gender equality |
UK Retailer Index 2022
The Access to Nutrition Foundation is dedicated to addressing the world’s global nutrition challenges and encouraging healthier diets for all. Partnered with ShareAction, the Access to Nutrition Foundation developed the UK Retailer Index 2022 to assess the 11 largest grocery retailers in the UK by revenue.
Methodology
The benchmark methodology assesses companies on the following eight areas:
- Governance
- Nutrient profiling – defining ‘healthy’ products
- Product formulation
- In-store promotion, pricing and placement
- Media and on-pack advertising
- Accessibility of nutritional information and labelling
- Engagement with stakeholders and policy makers
- Infant and young child nutrition
Website
https://accesstonutrition.org/the-indexes/uk-retailer-index-2022/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food retail | 11 largest grocery retailers in the UK (Aldi UK, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl GB, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose) | UK | Health and nutrition |
World Benchmarking Alliance Social Transformation Baseline Assessment
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) aims to drive private sector engagement in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WBA has developed free and public benchmarks of companies that it has identified as vital to achieving the SDGs and to addressing seven transformations:
- Social
- Decarbonisation and energy
- Food and agriculture
- Nature and biodiversity
- Digital
- Urban
- Financial system
The social transformation sits at the heart of WBA’s model, and it underpins the other six transformations.
Methodology
The assessment methodology contains a set of 18 sector-agnostic core social indicators that cut across the following three areas of responsible conduct:
- Respect human rights
- Provide and promote decent work
- Act ethically
WBA aims to assess 2,000 companies by 2023 on their first steps towards respecting human rights. Additionally, WBA also produces the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) that assesses a subset of these companies in-depth, evaluating sectors that have been identified as high-risk in terms of their human rights impacts.
Website
https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/research/2022-social-transformation-baseline-assessment/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2,000 systemically important companies with global supply chains; includes public, private (including family-owned), and state-owned companies, and cooperatives | Global | Full range of human rights issues |
World Benchmarking Alliance Corporate Human Rights Benchmark
The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB), part of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), ranks global companies on their human rights performance every year. WBA aims to assess 2,000 companies by 2023 on their first steps towards respecting human rights. The CHRB also assesses a subset of these companies in-depth, evaluating sectors that have been identified as high-risk in terms of their human rights impacts.
Methodology
The CHRB methodology is grounded in internationally recognised standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and industry-specific standards on human rights and responsible business conduct. Companies are assessed based on the following five themes:
- Governance and policies (10%)
- Embedding respect and human rights due diligence (25%)
- Remedies and grievance mechanisms (20%)
- Performance: Company human rights practices (25%)
- Performance: Responses to serious allegations (20%)
Website
https://www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/corporate-human-rights-benchmark/
| Sectors | Companies | Geographic Focus | Topical Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
|
230 largest publicly listed companies, of-ten with extensive global operations | Global | Full range of human rights issues |
Summary Table: Sector Coverage by Benchmark
The table below summarises sector coverage across benchmarks through a universal classification system – the GICS. The GICS is a four-tiered, hierarchal industry classification system that includes 11 sectors, 24 industry groups, 69 industries and 158 sub-industries. This table illustrates sector coverage according to the GICS’s 24 industry groups.
| AB | AtM | AMR | ATNI India | ATNI GI | BT | GCF | GCF TT | GCF FBPC | KtC | PLWF | RJ | RDR | RE | TT50 | UKRI | WBA STBA | WBA CHRB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automobiles and components | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Banks | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Capital goods | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Commercial and professional ser-vices | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||||
| Consumer durables and apparel | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
| Consumer services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Diversified financials | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||||
| Energy | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Food, beverage and tobacco | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||
| Food and staples retailing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||
| Health care equipment and services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Household and personal products | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Insurance | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||||
| Materials | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Media and entertainment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and life sciences | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Real estate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Retailing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Semiconductors and semiconductor equipment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||
| Software and services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
| Technology hardware and equipment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
| Telecommunication services | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |||||||||||
| Transportation | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||
| Utilities | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
|
Abbreviations:
|
|
|---|---|
| AB | Agribusiness Scorecard |
| AtM | Access to Medicine Index |
| AMR | Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark |
| ATNI GI | Global Access to Nutrition Index |
| ATNI India | Access to Nutrition India Spotlight Index |
| BT | BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark |
| GCF | Global Child Forum Corporate Sector and Children’s Rights Benchmark Series |
| GCF TT | Global Child Forum Global Benchmark 2022 – Tech and Telecom |
| GCF FBPC | Global Child Forum Global Benchmark 2022 – Food, Beverage and Personal Care |
| KtC | KnowTheChain |
| PLWF | Platform Living Wage Financials |
| RJ | Racial Justice Scorecard |
| RDR | Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index and Scorecards |
| RE | Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark |
| TT50 | The Times Top 50 Employers for Women |
| UKRI | UK Retailer Index 2022 |
| WBA STBA | World Benchmarking Alliance Social Transformation Baseline Assessment |
| WBA CHRB | World Benchmarking Alliance Corporate Human Rights Benchmark |
Get in touch if you have any questions or suggestions for additional benchmarks
