World Benchmarking Alliance

Out today! For the first time, our 2024 Social Benchmark assesses all 2,000 of the world’s most influential companies, also known as the #SDG2000. These companies directly employ 95 million people and hundreds of millions more in their supply chains. Generating 45% of GDP in revenue each year, their role in building a more equal and inclusive world has never been more crucial. Unfortunately, results show that 90% of companies are not even halfway to meeting fundamental social expectations. Only 4% pay or have a target to pay their workers a living wage. Just 3% have a working hours policy that complies with International Labour Organization’s standards. And only 5% disclose their lobbying expenditures. These numbers are bleak. What can be done to accelerate company performance? Governments can drive change by enacting regulation that clarifies what is expected and required of businesses. They can acknowledge the private sector’s vital role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by incorporating this topic – along with an analysis of companies’ contributions – into their voluntary national reviews. Financial institutions, civil society and other stakeholders can also collectively accelerate corporate action. Learn more: https://bit.ly/SocialBM24 #SocialBenchmark2024 #bizhumanrights #WhenCompaniesValuePeople #LeaveNoOneBehind #VNRs #SDGs #corporateaccountability

On Tuesday, 30 July, we will launch our Collective Impact Coalition (CIC) on Food Loss and Waste with a group of multi-stakeholders who can influence companies to improve their performance on Food Loss and Waste by setting targets aligned with the SDG 12.3 agenda and measuring progress against it. CIC members take coordinated actions to incentivise key companies to improve their performance on Food Loss and Waste, and progress is measured over time using WBA’s Food and Agriculture Benchmark and annual progress reports. As the convenor for this coalition, we aim to co-create an action plan with CIC members. The event will feature a presentation of the CIC on Food Loss and Waste followed by a Q&A session with the participants. We will be hosting two virtual sessions for the launch event and you can register for any of the sessions here: https://lnkd.in/etbQAeaE

Today we support a campaign launched by our Ally Business for Nature, calling on governments to provide the regulatory certainty they need to transform their operations and supply chains 🌱 The private sector cannot address the challenge of nature and biodiversity loss alone and voluntary business action is no longer enough. We know for a fact, from our Nature Benchmark, that most companies do not understand and disclose how they affect and rely on nature. Less than 1% of the companies assessed holistically measure and disclose their dependencies on nature, and less than 5% are doing this for their impacts on nature. The BfN coalition has published five high-level recommendations, and 20 detailed policy asks for governments to accelerate the action needed on #Nature. The policy recommendations call on governments to urgently adopt policies to: 🌎 Make sure business and finance protect and restore nature 🌎 Ensure natural resources are used and managed sustainably to reduce negative environmental impacts 🌎 Value and embed nature in decision-making and disclosure 🌎 Align all financial flows to a transition to a nature-positive, net-zero and equitable economy 🌎 Adopt/strengthen ambitious global agreements to address key nature loss challenges 🔗 Read the BfN policy recommendations: https://lnkd.in/dYcJkbA

Last year, we worked with asset managers, asset owners and key actors across the investment industry to accelerate corporate accountability and compel transformation towards more sustainable systems. Our methodologies and benchmarks are helping to close the information gap and empower stakeholders, and our insights are facilitating a shared understanding of sustainability priorities among investors. We wrote more about it in this article. https://lnkd.in/ezZyn7k8

This week we had the honour to host a side event at the 2024 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York City, together with our co-organisers the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, New York, United Nations Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, and UNDP. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all speakers for their invaluable contributions: H. E. Ambassador Paula Narvaez (ECOSOC President, Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations), Ambassador Godfrey Kwoba (Permanent Representative of Uganda to the United Nations), Pasi Hellman (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland), Wim Schaerlaekens (Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Surya Deva (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development), Rose Omamo (ITUC AFRICA), Katy Thompson (UNDP) and Ewa Staworzynska (United States Council for International Business (USCIB)). This roundtable provided a pivotal platform to present our 2024 Social Benchmark - a comprehensive assessment of the 2,000 most influential companies globally that provides a holistic view of their contributions towards respecting human rights, providing and promoting decent work, and ethical conduct. We were grateful for the engaged participation of the event's attendees and felt inspired by the fruitful discussion, which identified the existing gaps and the efforts needed to address them to further the Leave No One Behind principle of the 2030 Agenda. Thank you once again to everyone involved for making this event a resounding success. We look forward to continuing this crucial dialogue and driving meaningful change together. #SocialBenchmark2024 #HLPF2024 #LeaveNoOneBehind

Today is Day 2 of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum 2024 in New York and today’s session will focus on SDG 2 #ZeroHunger. We are eager to hear the proposals and strategies from the speakers, in particular on unlocking the financing needed to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. 💡 To further nurture the discussion, we call for corporate action and accountability. They are pivotal for eradicating hunger. Already, there are promising signs of progress and corporate action. Find out more about companies that have joined the Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge and how they rate in the World Benchmarking Alliance Food and Agriculture Benchmark. This will bring us closer to achieving #SDG2. 👉 Read more https://lnkd.in/ejPtTAxf #HLPF2024 #SustainableDevelopment #CorporateResponsibility #EndingHunger Shamba Centre for Food & Climate Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Carla Hommes Lysiane L. Sara Posa Camilla De Nardi Anouk de Vries Global Citizen Faryal Ahmed Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Aline MOSNIER Committee on World Food Security Inaya Ezzeddine, MD, MP. Michal Mlynár UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) Stefanos Fotiou FAO UN Food Systems Coordination Hub

With the launch of our Automotive and Transportation Manufacturer Benchmark 2024 coming at the end of this year, and as the host of the ACT Accelerate Climate Transition initiative, we are excited to share the newly updated ACT Automotive Manufacturer (Auto) Methodology: https://shorturl.at/0u9EI WBA has used the former methodology three times, for the first iterations of the Automotive Benchmark, in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively. For the next iteration of this benchmark, 30 companies will be assessed with this updated methodology. The ACT Auto Methodology was first released in 2019, and this most recent version builds upon the original work to ensure it remains cutting-edge in its ambition, relevance, and comprehensiveness. These updates were made possible through a public consultation but additionally with the bilateral discussions undertaken with CDP, ADEME, and other stakeholders.    To learn more about our upcoming #ATMBenchmark2024, see our methodology report: https://lnkd.in/g98rYNR8

We are thrilled to share that our Collective Impact Coalition for Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CIC for Ethical AI) has been shortlisted for the International Corporate Governance Network's 2024 Excellence in Stewardship Award.    ICGN’s Excellence in Stewardship Award recognises individuals, organisations and collaborative initiatives whose actions have contributed significantly to making effective stewardship a reality in the markets in which they operate. The winner of this award will be presented at the ICGN 2024 Annual Conference in London on 16 July 2024. Follow along here to find out how we fared.   The CIC for Ethical AI is a coordinated engagement campaign aiming to push technology companies to advance #ethicalAI policies and practices. Originally launched in September 2022 as the Collective Impact Coalition (CIC) for Digital Inclusion, it comprises 75 active members, including investors, civil society groups, think tanks, research/academia and business consulting groups. The initiative is asking that companies implement, demonstrate and publicly disclose:   📝 a set of ethical principles that guide the company’s development, deployment and/or procurement of AI tools;    🏢 strong AI governance and oversight across the value chain of AI development and use;    💻 how these principles are implemented via specific tools and programs of action relevant to the company’s business model, including the product and service level;    👨👩👧👧 impact assessment processes applied to AI, emphasizing human rights impact assessments (HRIAs), especially in high-risk use cases.      To learn more about our CIC for Ethical AI and read our 2023 progress report, visit: https://lnkd.in/dq_4cYRi    Lauren Compere, Patrick Shortt, Benjamin Chekroun 

Missed us at #UrbanFuture 2024? We are excited to announce that WBA will also be present at the AESOP - Association of European Schools of Planning 2024 Congress. This year’s event, ‘Planning for Just and Sustainable Urban Regions’, will be held at Sciences Po, Paris, from July 8-12. Our Urban Benchmark Research Lead, Besmira Dyca, will be on-site to present as part of the ‘Urban Development: Economic and Environmental Considerations and Decision Making’ session, which will be held on Wednesday, July 10, between 16:45-18:30 CET. Her presentation, ‘Closing the accountability gap: benchmarking companies for sustainable urban land management,’ will focus on the Urban Benchmark’s methodology and preliminary findings. Find out more about our session at AESOP - Association of European Schools of Planning here: https://rb.gy/21jwhy

Our #SocialBenchmark2024 reveals that only 4% of the world’s 2,000 companies most influential companies pay their direct employees a living wage; less than 1% set a target to do so.  Decent work fundamentals such as a living wage and a maximum number of working hours aren't just important for the health and well-being of workers – they benefit entire families and communities. Despite nearly half the world’s population being employed, 664 million workers still live in extreme or moderate poverty. A living wage ensures that workers and their dependents can meet basic needs without needing to work overtime. The 2,000 companies in our benchmark directly employ 95 million people and hundreds of millions more through their supply chains. Imagine the profound impact that these companies would have if they and their suppliers all paid their workers a living wage. The ripple effect would transform societies, creating a brighter future for countless people.  Find out more: https://lnkd.in/ebSFhbrE #LivingWage #DecentWork #CorporateAccountability #SDG8 #timefor8