Library | ESG issues
Human Rights
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections every person holds regardless of nationality, status or circumstance. For financial institutions the central reference is the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which set out a responsibility to respect those rights through due diligence across operations, supply chains and investment portfolios. Adverse impacts such as forced labour, displacement of communities and unsafe working conditions carry legal, reputational and financial consequences, and increasingly fall within mandatory due diligence law.
Team Altiorem recommends
Refine
381 results
REFINE
SHOW: 16
Delivering the digital economy: African migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates e-commerce and delivery sectors
This report examines the exploitation of African migrant workers within the United Arab Emirates' e-commerce and delivery sectors. It details systemic abuses including recruitment debt, deceptive contracts, and excessive working hours, highlighting how subcontracting models fragment accountability. The findings advocate for stronger international labour standards to protect vulnerable platform workers.
Leveraging technological solutions for human rights due diligence
This report distils lessons from 25 organisations on leveraging technology to strengthen human rights due diligence in value chains. It categorises various tools, provides case studies, and outlines practical steps for responsible AI adoption, emphasising that technology must complement, rather than replace, human judgement and meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Assessing digital traceability systems for critical mineral value chains: Aligning upstream and downstream agendas
This report assesses digital traceability systems for critical raw materials, evaluating their architecture, feasibility, and impact. It emphasises aligning downstream regulatory demands with upstream producer realities, recommending that traceability should support due diligence and inclusion—particularly for artisanal mining—rather than serving as a standalone compliance burden.
Innovations in sustainability systems to support corporate due diligence
A resource hub from ISEAL Alliance providing case studies on how sustainability systems support corporate due diligence. It explores innovations like gamified worker training and digital risk assessments to improve supply chain transparency and human rights monitoring.
Off the books: Practical guidance for business
This report provides practical guidance for Australian businesses to identify and address migrant worker exploitation. Based on a survey of 9,963 temporary visa holders, it highlights risks like ABN misclassification, casual employment, night shifts, and misleading payslips. It offers due diligence tips and remediation steps to ensure compliance.
Does stewardship work in controversial sectors?
As at 2025 there were 56 stewardship codes worldwide, 49 of them jurisdiction-specific across 24 jurisdictions and six continents, yet the field has not agreed what stewardship is ultimately for. Codes and practitioner guidance converge on process: written policies, prioritisation by severity, escalation, contribution reporting. Legal scholarship published in 2026 questions whether shareholder pressure alone shifts corporate behaviour at all.
The hidden human cost of content moderation and data labelling
This report examines the hidden human costs of content moderation and data labelling in Colombia, Kenya, and the Philippines. It details systemic physical, psychological, and economic harms caused by lead firm power, informal employment, and intense target pressure, while identifying significant barriers to corporate accountability and worker rights.
Just Nature: How finance can support a just transition at the interface of action on climate and biodiversity
This report examines how the financial sector can facilitate a just transition within nature-based systems. It outlines priorities for sustainable agriculture, deforestation, nature-based solutions, and ocean restoration. The authors provide strategic recommendations for integrating human rights and social inclusion into climate and biodiversity actions to achieve a net-zero economy.
Mapping social and environmental due diligence legislation
This OECD report maps 21 legislative measures across 11 jurisdictions concerning social and environmental due diligence. It identifies key areas of convergence and divergence in regulatory scope and requirements. The findings aim to support international policy co-operation, reduce implementation complexity, and promote consistent global enforcement approaches.
Tips on effective grievance mechanisms for businesses
This report outlines strategies for businesses to implement effective grievance mechanisms aligned with UN Guiding Principles. It highlights how robust engagement can prevent potential financial losses of $25-40 million. Guidance covers design, internal governance, and maintaining effectiveness in high-risk environments to build stakeholder trust and ensure human rights compliance.
EJF's squid fisheries series
This report series examines global squid fisheries, focusing on governance gaps, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, labour and human rights issues, supply chain transparency, and fisheries management. It analyses risks across key squid fisheries and explores policy and regulatory measures to support more sustainable and accountable fishing practices.
Guidance on integrating deforestation into net zero strategies
This IIGCC guidance supports institutional investors in integrating deforestation, land conversion, and associated human rights risks into net zero strategies. Aligned with the Net Zero Investment Framework 2.0, it provides practical, asset class-specific action points across listed equity, sovereign bonds, real estate, and private equity and debt.
The ICJ's advisory opinion on climate change
This edited volume analyses the ICJ's July 2025 advisory opinion on climate change obligations, examining its legal framework, due diligence standards, human rights implications, and statehood findings. Contributing authors also assess the opinion's notable silences on historical responsibility, military emissions, and differentiated obligations.
Retreat or respect? Diverging corporate paths on human rights in a time of turbulence
This BHRC report examines how top US companies are responding to mounting pressure on human rights standards. It identifies three corporate pathways: active deregulatory lobbying by Big Oil and Big Tech, quiet retreat from human rights commitments, and continued adherence. Survey data from April 2026 reveals significant reductions in human rights staffing and budgets.
Social performance measurement: Practical insights and tips for financial institutions
This report by Shift distils insights from practitioner clinics for financial institutions on social performance measurement. It identifies key challenges and misperceptions, and provides eight practical tips for building more effective human rights due diligence measurement approaches, covering HRDD maturity assessment, theory of change, and quantification at scale.
Responsible AI in practice: 2025 global insights from the AI Company Data initiative
This report analyses publicly disclosed data from 2,972 companies across 11 sectors, revealing a significant gap between AI adoption and governance maturity. Only 13 per cent align their strategy with a formal framework, and few demonstrate adequate worker protections, ethical impact assessments, or training data oversight.
