Swiss data science group RepRisk has been selected as a preferred data provider for the new Corporate Human Rights Benchmark.
The CHRB is backed by major investment groups such as APG, Aviva Investors and Nordea, to rank the world’s largest companies on their human rights track records, across 100 indicators.
The benchmark assesses companies in six key areas: governance and policies, integration of human rights due diligence, remedies and grievance mechanisms, human rights practices, responses to allegations of human rights violations and corporate transparency.
RepRisk’s proprietary platform monitors more than 110,000 private and public companies and 25,000 corporate initiatives in every sector and market. The company analyses information in 20 languages from public sources and private stakeholders to monitor ESG risks.
Daniel Neale, director of the CHRB, said it was important that the benchmark establishes credibility based on comprehensive and accurate data.
“For the benchmark to have an impact, it is essential that our assessment should rely on robust, comprehensive and credible information,” he said. “The RepRisk data is therefore a crucial source in the research process.”
Neale said that the CHRB’s 2018 results found that urgent improvements were needed in corporate behaviour when it came to human rights.
“CHRB is calling on companies to use the results to understand where such improvements can be made,” he said.
Linard Campell, executive vice president of Business Development at RepRisk, said he hoped that using the new data set would bolster investor oversight of corporate behaviour.
He added: “Through our partnership with the CHRB, we are pleased to increase transparency on company performance, which is not always apparent via the traditional avenues of public company-mandated disclosures.”
