Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Transparency as a Tool to End Modern Slavery

Mar 22, 2018 2:00 PM ET
Campaign: Empowering Sustainable Decisions

Close to 46 million people around the world were victims of modern slavery in 2016 alone. Business participation in solving the issue is crucial.

Modern slavery can take many shapes including forced marriage, trafficking and forced labor. For companies, identifying and helping prevent this phenomenon is important not only to lower reputational risk, but also to prevent supply chain disruptions or even legal consequences that can prevent them from continuing operations. Companies are now facing more scrutiny from their stakeholders, as well as more regulation, which increases their need to identify, report on, and address modern slavery in their supply chains, if any exists.

At GRI we believe that corporate transparency can help businesses improve their methods to detect human rights abuses in their value chains, and take steps to remedy them.  We are undertaking actions in different fronts to bring attention to the issue. Through a process of stakeholder consultation, we aim to provide a roadmap for harmonized reporting that can address different reporting expectations.

We believe that more consistency and comparability will increase the value of the data for decision making and encourage more companies to engage in reporting on modern slavery. GRI and its stakeholders can spearhead the use of new tools and resources that companies need to obtain useful data and make informed decisions about tackling modern slavery in their supply chains.

Join the first wave

GRI is inviting companies to join the Corporate Leadership Group on Modern Slavery, to engage with investors, media, legal experts and governments and help redefine the way modern slavery is addressed. If you are interested in contributing to the solution by deciding on the future of sustainability reporting on the issue, join the Corporate Leadership Group on Modern Slavery. To do so you can email Simone Warren at warren@globalreporting.org. And, if you want to know more about GRI’s work on modern slavery, please contact Katja Kriege, at kriege@globalreporting.org.

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