From Doha to Delivery – implementing living wages across global agendas

The 2024 Doha Political Declaration marked a political turning point for social accountability

For the first time, a UN political agreement recognised living wages as central to poverty reduction, decent work and social inclusion, and explicitly acknowledged the shared responsibility of governments and business in generating them. Building on the International Labour Organization’s 2024 articulation of living wages, which clarified definitions and principles, these developments signal a growing global consensus that paying a living wage must move from aspiration to implementation.

Recent global policy developments create a timely opportunity. The UN’s 2024 Pact for the Future commits Member States to strengthen private sector accountability in implementing UN agreements (Action 55(c)), while the 2025 Seville Commitment (Para 34C) calls for clear guidance on business responsibilities. Both emphasise the need to clarify expectations for the private sector alongside government action, and create a normative pathway for embedding living wages within strengthened private sector accountability frameworks.

WBA’s recent assessments of 2000 global companies highlights the urgency: only 5% of companies currently disclose a target or that they pay a living wage. Establishing living wages as a defined expectation - supported by a roadmap or global target - is essential to maintain momentum.

Encouragingly, early signals suggest that the political momentum around living wages is beginning to influence corporate practice. WBA’s data shows companies operating in countries where minimum wages more closely reflect living costs demonstrate stronger corporate performance. For example, European companies are three times more likely than peers in other regions to disclose living wage targets or commitments.  

Notably, companies that meet collective bargaining disclosure requirements are three times more likely to guarantee a living wage. This underscores that living wages are not simply a compliance exercise, but the outcome of effective social dialogue and tripartite consensus between governments, employers and workers. Strengthening collective bargaining systems is therefore central to delivering sustainable living wage outcomes.

To accelerate progress, we must build on these policy impacts while sending clearer global signals that paying a living wage is a business expectation and responsibility. Coherent international norms, implemented through robust national policy frameworks, are critical to aligning corporate practices with global commitments.

From recognition to implementation

The recent 64th Commission on Social Development of the United Nations marked the beginning of the Doha Declaration’s implementation phase. To ensure that Item 3A on living wages is effectively advanced, we highlight three priority measures for UN Member States to strengthen delivery:

1. Clarify and operationalise business responsibility 
A formal member-state led, multistakeholder process should be established to define the respective responsibilities of business in delivering living wages, aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Principles developed by the International Labour Organization must be translated into concrete, operational expectations for companies, covering both direct employees and supply chains. Success will depend on sustained leadership from the UN system to ensure consistency across national systems, corporate standards and multilateral agreements.

2. Adopt a whole-of-society approach 
Implementation of the Doha Political Declaration should mobilise coordinated action across governments, employers, workers, investors and civil society. Multistakeholder coalitions and collective initiatives should be integrated into implementation frameworks to enable shared accountability, peer learning, and stronger alignment between public policy and private sector action, reinforcing governance and delivery.

3. Embed living wages across global agendas and the post-2030 framework 
As companies navigate energy and digital transitions, this is a critical opportunity to frame living wages not as a cost or trade-off, but as a driver of resilient businesses, supply chains and economies. Transitions that decarbonise or digitise while leaving workers in poverty-level pay risk undermining long-term stability. Embedding living wages into just transition strategies offers a pathway to ensure that as economies transform, workers move with them into secure and fairly compensated livelihoods. Upcoming milestones this year, including the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), the UN General Assembly (UNGA), and COP31, provide critical opportunities to advance an integrated approach.

For more information, reach out to Charlotte Reeves, Multilateral Engagement Lead at the World Benchmarking Alliance.