BANKS DODGY DEALS CAMPAIGNS
About BankTrack
20 years of BankTrack – Our history
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2023-11-20 00:00:00
West Cumbria Coal Mine: dodgy mine, dodgier financier
2023-11-08 00:00:00
Westpac takes two steps forward, one big step back
2023-09-18 00:00:00
New report and blog: Barclays' bond with Adani
2023-08-23 00:00:00
Decarbonization: steel not making the cut
2023-11-20 11:26:40
Danske Bank excludes financing for oil and gas upstream expansion
2023-09-19 16:11:58
Société Générale announces leading climate policy on gas
2023-09-15 17:34:10
The number of major banks refusing to support EACOP reaches 24
2023-07-31 14:30:01
Equator Principles recognise projects’ risk to climate for the first time
Connect
2023-10-10 00:00:00
Still bankrolling coal (for steel)
2023-09-18 00:00:00
Barclays' bond with Adani
2023-06-26 00:00:00
How should financiers align with the Global Biodiversity Framework? Five Key Principles
2023-04-13 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2023
See all publications
Sections
Banks Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate
Banks and Human Rights
Banks and Nature
Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA
End Coal Finance
Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine
Banks and steel
Tracking the Equator Principles
Tracking the PRBs
Find a Better Bank
Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Financial Exclusions Tracker Equator-Complaints.Org Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack 20 years of BankTrack – Our history Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter Login
Home › BankTrack news ›
BankTrack News

Investors with US$861 billion in assets under management and advisement support findings of BankTrack’s 2022 Global Human Rights Benchmark

2023-09-21 | Nijmegen, the Netherlands
By: BankTrack
The BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark 2022: Cover image. Photo: BankTrack
2023-09-21 | Nijmegen, the Netherlands
By: BankTrack

A group of 47 investors representing US$861 billion in assets under management and advisement, coordinated by the Investor Alliance for Human Rights, has signed a statement in support of BankTrack’s 2022 Global Human Rights Benchmark. The statement expresses concern regarding the human rights performance of banks as shown by the Benchmark’s findings, and calls on banks to “raise the ambition and increase the pace” of implementation of the Guiding Principles, as the UN has called for in its Roadmap for the Next Decade.

The Benchmark evaluated the disclosures of 50 of the world’s largest banks against a set of 14 criteria covering four key areas of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs): (1) policy commitment, (2) human rights due diligence, (3) reporting, and (4) access to remedy. In addition, it assessed how banks respond to specific cases of adverse human rights impacts raised by civil society groups.

“This statement and our partnership with BankTrack demonstrates how rigorous, evidence-based benchmarks grounded in international human rights frameworks such as the BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark can strengthen investors' analyses, proxy voting, and engagement strategies to ensure robust implementation of the UNGPs in the banking sector,” said Anita Dorett, Director of the the Investor Alliance for Human Rights.

While modest improvements were evident compared to past rankings, the Benchmark found that 38 out of the 50 evaluated banks are implementing less than half of the human rights expectations outlined in the UNGPs. Moreover, of particular concern to investors, all but eight out of 50 banks fell short of reporting on specific human rights impacts, indicating that earlier progress on human rights disclosure has stalled. Another important gap is remedy, as no bank demonstrated how specific human rights harms that were identified through due diligence were remedied or managed. Banks also failed to provide a meaningful response to allegations of human rights violations in nearly three quarters of cases.

This investor statement comes at a crucial time as European Union institutions begin the final stages of negotiations over the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, or CS3D, which aims to create mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence rules for companies. The inclusion of the financial sector in the scope of the legislation has been a controversial issue, leading to the recent release of a statement by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights calling on policy makers to include the entire financial sector in the CS3D without creating “carveouts” or other exceptions.

“With this statement of support, investors are sending a strong signal to all commercial banks that they must take urgent steps to improve their implementation of human rights principles. With a new Global Human Rights Benchmark due in November 2024, banks have a window of opportunity now to make meaningful improvements to their management of human rights impacts, including by showing the evidence that their due diligence is making a difference to rights-holders on the ground,” said Ryan Brightwell, Human Rights Lead at BankTrack.

To learn more, watch this Investor Alliance webinar. The statement remains open for signatures on a rolling basis.

Sections
Banks Policies Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate Banks and Human Rights Banks and Nature Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA End Coal Finance Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine Banks and steel Tracking the Equator Principles Tracking the PRBs Find a Better Bank Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Financial Exclusions Tracker Equator-Complaints.Org Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack 20 years of BankTrack – Our history Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Contact@banktrack.org
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter
©2023 BankTrack
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted