As representatives of over 1000 companies gather this week in New York at the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, Realizing Rights and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre have published a list of over 270 companies worldwide known to have adopted a human rights policy statement (see full list below).

During 2009-2010 Mary Robinson (President of Realizing Rights, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) wrote to the CEOs of 100 companies, encouraging them to adopt a human rights policy if they had not already done so. The firms contacted are headquartered in: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ghana, India, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania and Turkey. Many responded with an existing policy or intentions to develop one.

Every company human rights policy statement known to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is featured on its website:

www.business-humanrights.org/ToolsGuidancePortal/Policies

Those with policies include firms as diverse as Anadolu Efes (beverages, Turkey), Cerrejón (coal, Colombia), Ericsson (telecommunications, Sweden), Mitsubishi (automotive & other, Japan), Pfizer (pharmaceuticals, USA).

Mary Robinson said, “Business increasingly recognises the importance of respecting human rights. Human rights provide an internationally-accepted, comprehensive framework for managing a company’s impacts on workers, communities, and broader society. I congratulate those firms with policies and encourage others to follow suit.” Mary Robinson further elaborates on the importance of human rights policies in a statement issued this week, available here.

John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on business & human rights, recommends that companies adopt a human rights policy. Doing so is the first step in the “due diligence” process for respecting human rights that he has developed ““ followed by human rights impact assessments, implementation, and tracking/reporting performance.

The Resource Centre website links to guidance for business on developing a human rights policy, and to specially-written commentaries by experts who make the case for corporate human rights policies. They include:

Wambui Kimathi, Kenyan National Commission for Human Rights: “The KNCHR would like to see more businesses, especially those publicly listed in the Nairobi Stock Exchange, state corporations and big market leaders in various sectors, acknowledge their corporate responsibility to respect human rights by having a policy on human rights.”

Faris Natour, Director Research & Innovation, Business for Social Responsibility: “The vast majority of companies around the world still have not taken the simple first step of adopting a human rights policy. The time is right for these companies to do this, and there are many free resources to get started.”

If your company has a human rights policy statement, or adopts one in the future, please contact Business & Human Rights Resource Centre so that it can be added to the list:

• Christopher Avery, Director [email protected] +44 7946 147652
• Malena Bengtsson, Researcher [email protected] +44 (20) 7636 7774

Companies known to have adopted a human rights policy statement* (as of June 2010)

ABBEricssonNovo NordiskAbbott LaboratoriesEroskiNovozymesAberdeen Asset ManagementExxonMobilO2ABN AmroFCCOccidental PetroleumACSFerrovialOceanaGoldAegonFordOMVAGFFortisOz MineralsAker SolutionsFreeport-McMoRanPentlandAkzo NobelFriends ProvidentPepsicoAlcanFujifilm HoldingsPersimmonAlcatel-LucentFujitsuPetrobrasAlcoaGDFPetroCanadaAlliance BootsGeneral ElectricPfizerAlstomGeneral MotorsPhilipsAnadolu EfesGlaxoSmithKlinePoscoAnglo AmericanGold FieldsPremier OilANZ BankGoodyearPricewaterhouseCoopersAramexGroup 4 SecuricorProcter & GambleArcelorMittalGucciPrudentialArevaHalliburtonRabobankArla FoodsHandelsbankenReckitt BenchiserArmorGroupHBOSReebokASN BankHenkelRepsol YPFAssociated British FoodsHessRexamAstraZenecaHiltonRicohAvivaHitachiRio TintoBalfour BeattyHolcimRitzCarltonBanco BradescoHPRocheBanco do BrasilHSBCRoyal Bank of ScotlandBarclaysHydroRoyal Caribbean CruisesBarrick GoldIberdrolaSABMillerBASFIkeaSanofi AventisBayerImperial TobaccoSara LeeBayernLBImplatsSasolBBVAIndian OilSCABG GroupINGSecuritasBHP BillitonIntelSeven & I HoldingsBMWInterContinental HotelsSharpBoeingInternational PowerShellBonnier GroupISSSiemensBouyguesJapan TobaccoSignetBPJFE HoldingsSkanskaBramblesJohnson MattheySmiths GroupBritish AirwaysKBC GroupSociété GénéraleBritish American TobaccoKfWSodexoBT GroupKimberly-ClarkSompo Japan InsuranceCable & WirelessKinrossSonyCadburyKPNSprint NextelCadbury SchweppesLafargeStandard CharteredCarrefourLagardèreStagecoachCasinoLegoStarwood Hotels & ResortsCemexLevi StraussStatoilCentricaLihir GoldStora EnsoCerrejónLinde GroupSumitomo Electric IndustriesChevronLloyds TSBSumitomo Trust & BankingChiquitaLonminSun MicrosystemsChubuLundin PetroleumSyngentaCisco SystemsL’OrealTaiseiCitigroupMan GroupT&D LifeCoca-ColaMarks & SpencerTalismanCodelcoMarriottTataColgate-PalmoliveMarubeniTaylor WimpeyCommercial International BankMazda MotorTelecom ItaliaCommerzbankMcDonald’sTelefónicaCompass GroupMerckTeliaSoneraConocoPhillipsMicrosoftTescoContinentalMitchells & ButlersTimberlandControl RisksMitsubishiTokyo Electric PowerCo-operative BankMitsubishi Chemical HoldingsTom’s of MaineCosmo OilMitsubishi ElectricTomkinsCrédit AgricoleMitsuiToshibaCredit SuisseMizuho Financial GroupTotalDaimlerChryslerMobilnilTropical Cable & ConductorDanoneMonsantoUBSDe BeersMorgan StanleyUnileverDellMotorolaUnited TechnologiesDeutsche BahnNational GridValeDeutsche TelekomNaouri GroupVattenfallDiageoNECVerizonDLHNeste OilVodafoneDnB NorNestléVolvoDow ChemicalNewmontWestpacDuPontNexenWeyerhaeuserE.ONNippon ExpressWhitbreadEADSNippon YusenWolseleyEDFNokiaWPPEMINomura HoldingsXeroxEnagásNordeaXstrata EncanaNovartisYaraEndesaNovo GroupYellENI

*Companies participating in the UN Global Compact (UNGC) commit to ten principles, including principles one and two on human rights. On this list we do not include all UNGC participants, only companies that have a separate commitment to human rights (for example within a company code of conduct or as a stand-alone human rights policy). Incorporating human rights into company policies is one of the recommendations in the UNGC document, “Help Mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.

The list does not include policy statements that refer/apply only to a company’s suppliers or employees.