Corporate Human Rights Benchmark
Advancing corporate human rights by assessing companies’ human rights commitments, due-diligence processes, and implementation efforts.
Without a strong commitment to human rights and implementation through due diligence, jobs can be precarious, communities affected, and inequalities exacerbated. The Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) provides a comparative snapshot of the most influential companies in high-risk sectors, looking at the policies, processes and practices companies have in place to systematise their human rights approach.
Most companies continue to improve on human rights, but nearly one in four regressed since their last assessment
Compared to the last CHRB iteration, 80% of companies improved while 20% regressed or stagnated, including several former top performers. This volatility suggests that embedding human rights in corporate practice requires sustained commitment and that progress is not guaranteed to persist.
Motor vehicle manufacturing improved the most but remains the lowest-scoring sector
Motor vehicle manufacturers saw the largest sectorial improvement, gaining 16 percentage points, yet remain the lowest-scoring sector, meeting only 44% of requirements compared to 64% for extractives and 58% for food and agriculture.
Companies set human rights expectations for suppliers but fail to provide the support needed to meet them
While 87% of companies embed human rights in supplier contracts, only 39% commit to responsible purchasing practices. This gap means many suppliers are facing double demands from buyers who expect suppliers to meet standards while subjecting them to pricing pressures and delayed payments, which undermine their capacity to do so.
Supply chain transparency remains a blind spot
Despite growing regulatory expectations on supply chain due diligence, only 24% of companies disclose names and locations of significant suppliers. This opacity constrains affected stakeholders from raising concerns and limits accountability across complex supply chains.
Only 1 in 10 companies assesses how human rights impacts relate to their business model
Board review of human rights strategy rose to 75% of companies, compared with 47% in the last iteration, demonstrating a growing integration of human rights into governance practices. Yet only 10% of companies assess where human rights risks originate from or relate to their business model and strategy, a foundational step for effective due diligence under emerging regulatory frameworks.
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