Renewable energy and human rights benchmark report series
The Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark series assesses how leading renewable energy companies manage and respect human rights across their operations and value chains. The series provides a consistent, comparative framework to track corporate practices and accountability in the global energy transition.
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OVERVIEW
The Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark series was initiated in 2023 by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre to evaluate how renewable energy companies integrate human rights into their policies, practices and business models. The series focuses on companies operating across the wind and solar value chains, including project developers and equipment manufacturers, recognising their growing role in shaping a just energy transition.
The purpose of the benchmark is to provide transparency and comparability on corporate human rights performance in the renewable energy sector. It is designed to highlight whether companies have the governance structures, due diligence processes and commitments in place to identify, prevent, mitigate and address adverse human rights impacts linked to their activities and supply chains.
The methodology is grounded in internationally recognised standards, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and other authoritative human rights frameworks. Companies are assessed against a defined set of indicators covering governance and policy commitments, human rights due diligence, access to remedy, and salient human rights risks relevant to renewable energy, such as Indigenous Peoples’ rights, land and resource rights, labour rights and supply chain risks. The benchmark uses publicly available information and applies a consistent scoring and ranking approach to enable year-on-year comparison across editions.
For finance professionals, the series serves as a practical tool for assessing exposure to human rights risks and management quality within the renewable energy sector. It can inform investment analysis, stewardship priorities and engagement strategies by identifying gaps between company commitments and expected international standards. The benchmark also supports monitoring of progress over time, enabling investors and lenders to track whether companies are strengthening their human rights practices as the energy transition accelerates.
