"Business Risks Missing Out on its Best Chance to Contribute to Sustainable Development," 14 Nov 2016

Companies’ single greatest opportunity to contribute to human development lies in advancing respect for the human rights of workers and communities touched by their value chains. This position is set out in a new paper...The paper’s author, Shift President and Co-Founder Caroline Rees, make the case that companies make a mistake when they assume that their best chance to have a positive social impact is through philanthropy, social investment or new business initiatives and models such as “shared value.” While these can bring valuable benefits, they fail to leverage companies’ most immediate and powerful connection to people around the world: their existing operations and value chains…In the paper, Rees states that the core of this opportunity to contribute to human development lies in implementing the existing global standard about companies’ impacts on people: the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights…The paper argues that by applying resources, leadership and collaborative energies to this task, companies can achieve uniquely far-reaching and sustainable positive impacts…