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How can businesses work effectively with communities, NGOs and governments to mitigate their negative impacts on local communities while increasing their social contribution? This question was discussed by the following panellists at the Global Child Forum at the Royal Palace earlier this year: Brian Ganson, Head at the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement, University of Stellenbosch Business School; Nina Schefte, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Norsk Hydro and Simon Lord, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sime Darby Plantation Berhad. Additionally, Professor John Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, shared some of his recent findings.
Addressing the Global Child Forum April 2018
Above and beyond
Kicking off the discussion, Brian Ganson, Head at the Africa Centre for Dispute Settlement, University of Stellenbosch Business School, commented on the magnitude of the challenges outlined by Professor John Knox, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment, in his address: “If a company is only concerned with its own immediate impacts, that’s not nearly enough to address the problem. Companies have to look at how they help shape the very system that keeps air clean, water clean, and communities safe.”
Speaking of his company’s efforts, Simon Lord, Chief Sustainability Officer at Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, agreed. Sime Darby Plantation is involved in agribusiness, predominately palm oil, which is distributed in 12 countries, five of which are producer countries: Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Liberia, Indonesia and Malaysia. The company employs roughly a hundred thousand individuals in chiefly rural areas, so with the addition of workers’ family members, Sime Darby actually houses about 500,000 people worldwide.
The company engages in a myriad of activities that impact the environment, not just waste systems but the chemicals, herbicides and fertilizers involved in palm oil production. When it comes to complying with environmental regulations, Lord recommended doing more than what’s required: “It’s not good enough to walk up to the imaginary fence of compliance; you have to go beyond it. Compliance doesn’t futureproof your business. It lulls you into a sense of false security.”
“It’s not good enough to walk up to the imaginary fence of compliance; you have to go beyond it. Compliance doesn’t futureproof your business. It lulls you into a sense of false security.”
Simon Lord, Chief Sustainability Officer, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad
Proactive climate strategy
Norsk Hydro is a fully integrated global aluminum company which extracts bauxite, a natural resource, to produce aluminum. In 2011, they entered the Amazon region of Brazil with facilities including a mine, a pipeline and the world’s largest alumina refinery.
Measures the company is taking to ensure coming generations have a better environment include the objective to be carbon neutral by 2020, requiring suppliers to meet environmental standards, collective initiative participation and contributing to education programs.
Accountability includes listening and transparency
Noting that Norsk Hydro’s experiences in Brazil include a difficult history and operating environment, Ganson suggested that companies sometimes talk at cross-purposes with communities. He asked what lessons the company is learning.
According to Nina Schefte, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Norsk Hydro, Norsk Hydro’s experience demonstrates the importance of active communication: listening rather than merely acquiring input, understanding community/societal expectations, and allowing those closest to the issues to participate in shaping solutions.
Schefte acknowledged that being transparent with local communities and engaging in open dialogue can be arduous. At the company’s refinery in Barcarena, Brazil, there are 120,000 inhabitants, high levels of conflict and little trust for neither the company nor local authorities. “In that kind of environment, we have to build trust with stakeholders. Without trust in each other, it’s difficult to get anywhere.”
A spirit of trying
When we say a company is accountable to children and communities, Ganson asked, what does that look like?
“To be honest, accountability is not necessarily very pretty,” acknowledged Simon Lord. He described a child protection program that didn’t meet his company’s expectations as an example of the need for ongoing assessments and adjustments in planning. “We had to go back and rethink it. We perhaps didn’t listen as much as we should have to the youth.“
He recommends being honest and frank as a way of restoring or preserving trust. “To build trust, you have to take action after engaging in dialogue. And you have to show the actions you’ve actually taken,” said Lord.
At times, accountability and sustainability reporting can, says Lord, “almost be a catalog of failures – areas where you experimented or tried new things. But if you’re really holding yourself accountable to your shareholders and your communities, you have to be able to take that information and present it to them.”
Lord called on businesses to permit themselves to make mistakes. “Adopt a spirit of trying, and yet allow yourself failure. We need to encourage this, because there are a lot of companies out there who didn’t respond to questionnaires, haven’t taken part, haven’t signed up. Why? They’re afraid to be exposed, and frightened that they’ll get it wrong. We have to build in the capacity to make mistakes and not punish people.”
The Right to a Healthy Environment
UN Human Rights Council, 5 March 2018
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On Wednesday, April 11, the 10th Global Child Forum 2018 was held at the Stockholm Royal Palace. Over 300 participants from around the world gathered to discuss child rights issues. Participants represented global companies, financial institutions, civil society, the UN, academia and government.
Businesses, investors and organisations alike need to understand how their actions impact children’s rights across the globe. The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, developed with UNICEF, is the first comprehensive resource to guide companies in assessing risks to children within industry sectors and regions of operation.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Middle East and North Africa, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products: The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2014, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 350 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in South America, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products ‘The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark’. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2017, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 300 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Nordic Region, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products: The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2016, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 299 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in South Africa, this report draws on one of Global Child Forum’s essential research products ‘The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark’. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. In 2015, Global Child Forum, in partnership with Boston Consulting Group, published a benchmark study of the 271 largest companies in the region. This report is a follow-up to that study. An updated benchmark analysis has been conducted on 20 of the region’s largest companies.
In this video Alinde Melin, Global Children's Rights Leader at Inter IKEA Group, shares what her recommendations are for companies that would like to start involving young people in their business. This video is part of a series of interviews with leading experts in the field. They were asked about the importance of child participation and business.
In an effort to provide insights and guidance on how businesses protect – or fall short in protecting – children’s rights in the Southeast Asia region, this report makes use of two essential Global Child Forum research products: The Children Rights and Business Atlas and The corporate sector and children’s rights benchmark. More specifically, insights are provided across three areas where the corporate sector impacts children’s rights: The Workplace, The Marketplace, The Community and the Environment. Throughout this report, data from the Atlas highlights contextual factors that shape how companies can and should respond to children’s rights. This information is contrasted with the results of the Benchmark scoring for the 20 largest companies in Southeast Asia. A gap analysis provides recommendations for company actions that address risks and create positive impact on children’s rights in the region.
Norsk Hydro entered Brazil in 2011 with a long history of fostering healthy communities that grew up around its operations in Norway. The company therefore had no small sense of the responsibilities of being an actor with an enormous impact on the lives of its workers and neighbours. The difficult history and operating environment of the Amazon region, however, challenge Hydro’s commitment to go “beyond compliance” to make a positive difference – particularly with regard to vulnerable populations, including children. This case study is no. 3 in a series of company reflections for Global Child Forum on how companies address children’s rights and child-related issues. All our reports and case studies can be found in our Knowledge Center.
The Children’s Rights and Business Atlas helps businesses identify potential impacts on the lives of children, especially where it is most needed, and guides the integration of children’s rights into company due diligence practices and procedures.
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