"Supply chain ethics and traceability among biggest business human rights issues, report finds", 19 Feb 2016

Increasing supply chain traceability and integrating human rights into the adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts are among the most significant human rights issues effecting sustainability and CSR professionals...according to a new report from global risk advisory firm Verisk Maplecroft...A lack of information on supply chain practices and the adaptation of climate impacts ranked alongside the recruitment of migrants and refugees into forced labour as some of the biggest threats to brand reputation over the next 12 months, the researchers claim. “The risks for business are amplified by increasing public scrutiny of unmapped tiers of the supply chain and benchmarking of company human rights performance,” said Verisk Maplecroft's principle human rights analyst Alexandra Channer...The report...notes that, while numerous businesses have adopted strenuous monitoring condition across ‘tier one’ suppliers, many have little visibility of the distant tiers of their supply chains and are therefore unprepared to meet the expanding challenges...The report also raises concerns over the traceability of metals and minerals in supply chains – with increased emphasis on conflict minerals in the ICT manufacturing sector...[The] report states that climate mitigation must be taken into account by businesses to ensure that workers in the supply chain aren’t affected by the changes...[Refers to BT, Intel]

The 10 Human Rights Risks to Watch in 2016:

1. Labour Brokers: Building trust in ethical recruitment
2. Supply Chains: Achieving traceability
3. Moving Beyond the Audit: Increasing supply chain responsibility
4. Mandatory Reporting: Enhancing supply chain transparency
5. Migration: Preventing forced labour in European supply chains
6. Living Wage: Meeting worker and public expectations
7. Working Conditions: Rising labour rights scrutiny in Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
8. Social License to Operate: Managing the impact of the commodity downturn
9. Gender Parity: Paid parental leave and mitigating discrimination
10. COP 21: Integrating human rights into adaptation & mitigation of climate change impacts

Full report