2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark

21 November 2022

This fifth iteration of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assesses 127 companies in the food and agricultural products, ICT and automotive manufacturing sectors on their human rights performance. We assessed companies using our revised methodology, which was published last year.

Compared to previous iterations, this year’s benchmark devotes more attention to companies’ actual performance in ensuring that human rights are respected within their four walls and supply chains, rather than merely the commitments they have made. It now also looks at whether companies are engaging with stakeholders at various stages of their operations, their business models, strategies and risks, and whether or not they prohibit recruitment fees, which is a form of forced labour.

Key findings

Corporate respect for human rights is about human dignity. It is about the responsibility that companies have to not infringe on the human rights of others and to address any adverse human rights impacts that they find themselves involved in. This is crucial for achieving sustainable development.

After five years, we have seen that benchmarking companies on their human rights performance is helping to drive change. Under scrutiny, companies are feeling more accountable for their responsibility and have improved their scores. However, the pace of this improvement is very slow.

Key finding

Corporate respect for human rights has gained momentum – the stage is set for regulation to speed things up

Despite the fact that our updated methodology has raised the bar, 66% of food and agriculture companies, 65% of ICT companies and 57% of automotive companies have improved their scores on key human rights indicators since being included in the benchmark. Regulatory action could provide the much-needed final push.

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Key finding

Elevating human rights responsibilities to the board and senior management level appears to be key for better action on human rights due diligence

There is a strong positive correlation between companies' scores on assigning board responsibility for human rights as well as management and resources for day-to-day human rights functions, and overall human rights due diligence scores. Out of the companies that improved the most on human rights due diligence, 75% assign senior level responsibility for human rights and allocate resources and expertise for implementation and decision making around human rights.

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Key finding

Companies need to translate their commitments to stakeholder engagement into meaningful action

Whilst 66% of companies in the 2020 CHRB committed to engage with affected stakeholders, this year’s results show that companies have yet to translate this commitment into action. The majority of companies still do not include stakeholders in the subsequent steps of a due diligence process.

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Key finding

Companies are taking a hands-off approach to human rights in their supply chains

Whilst one third of companies expect their suppliers to respect human rights, the vast majority still fail to follow through with support or by monitoring progress. Only 11% follow through by working with suppliers on key human rights risks, such as child and forced labour or living wages. Just 2% assess how many people are affected by these issues in their supply chains and disclose progress.

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Key finding

In the face of the climate crisis, companies with an effective human rights approach are better equipped to plan for a just transition

There is a clear positive correlation between a company’s human rights score and its performance in our 2021 Just Transition Assessment. Eight out of the ten highest-scoring companies from the automotive sector are also among the ten highest scoring on our just transition indicators.

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See how the companies performed

View ranking

Further reading

  • 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Insights Report

    View the report

  • Data set

    The scores of all 127 companies can be downloaded in excel format.

    Learn more

Where are 127 companies headquartered?

Locations

  • Title: Tesla
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Texas Instruments
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: The Hershey Company
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Tokyo Electron
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Toyota Motor Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: TSMC
    Place: Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Tyson Foods
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Unilever
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Volkswagen
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Walmart
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Western Digital
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Wilmar International
    Place: Singapore
    Description:
  • Title: Woolworths Group
    Place: Australia
    Description:
  • Title: Yili Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Yum! Brands
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Marks & Spencer
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: McCormick
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: McDonald's
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Mercedes-Benz Group
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Microchip Technology
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Micron Technology
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Microsoft
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Mondelez International
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Monster Beverage
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Murata Manufacturing
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nestlé
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Nintendo
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nissan Motor Company
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Nokia
    Place: Finland
    Description:
  • Title: Nvidia
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: NXP Semiconductors
    Place: Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Panasonic Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: PepsiCo
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Pernod Ricard
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Qualcomm
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Renault
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: SACI Falabella
    Place: Chile
    Description:
  • Title: SAIC Motor
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Samsung Electronics
    Place: Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Seven & I Holdings
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Shoprite Holdings
    Place: South Africa
    Description:
  • Title: SK Hynix
    Place: Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Skyworks Solutions
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Sony
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Starbucks
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Stellantis
    Place: Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Subaru
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Suntory
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Suzuki Motor Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Sysco
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Target Corporation
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Tata Motors
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: TE Connectivity
    Place: Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Tesco
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Compass Group
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Conagra Brands
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Constellation Brands
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Corning
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Costco
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Danone
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Dell
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Diageo
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Dongfeng Motor Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Ericsson
    Place: Sweden
    Description:
  • Title: Ford
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn)
    Place: Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Geely
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: General Mills
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: General Motors Corporation (GM)
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: George Weston
    Place: Canada
    Description:
  • Title: Glencore
    Place: Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Great Wall Motor Company
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Guangzhou Automobile Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Heineken
    Place: Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Hitachi
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Honda Motor Company
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Hormel Foods
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: HP
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Hyundai Motor Company
    Place: Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Infineon Technologies AG
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: Intel
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Itochu
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Kellogg's
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Kerry Group
    Place: Ireland
    Description:
  • Title: Keyence Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Kia Motors Corporation
    Place: Republic of Korea
    Description:
  • Title: Kirin Holdings
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Kraft Heinz
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Kroger
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Kweichow Moutai
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Kyocera Corporation
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Lam Research
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Largan Precision
    Place: Taiwan
    Description:
  • Title: Lindt & Sprüngli
    Place: Switzerland
    Description:
  • Title: Mahindra and Mahindra
    Place: India
    Description:
  • Title: Aeon
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Ahold Delhaize
    Place: Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Alimentation Couche-Tard
    Place: Canada
    Description:
  • Title: Amazon
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Amphenol
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Analog Devices
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Anheuser-Busch InBev
    Place: Belgium
    Description:
  • Title: Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Apple
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Applied Materials
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Archer Daniels Midland (ADM)
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Asahi Group
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: ASML
    Place: Netherlands
    Description:
  • Title: Associated British Foods
    Place: United Kingdom
    Description:
  • Title: Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC)
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: BMW
    Place: Germany
    Description:
  • Title: BOE Technology Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: BRF
    Place: Brazil
    Description:
  • Title: Broadcom
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Brown-Forman Corporation
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: BYD
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Canon
    Place: Japan
    Description:
  • Title: Carlsberg
    Place: Denmark
    Description:
  • Title: Carrefour
    Place: France
    Description:
  • Title: Changan Automobile
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: China FAW Group
    Place: China
    Description:
  • Title: Cisco
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Coca-Cola Company
    Place: United States of America
    Description:
  • Title: Coles Group
    Place: Australia
    Description:

Previous findings

  • 2020 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark

    This fourth iteration of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark assesses 230 companies from the automotive, agricultural products, apparel, extractives and ICT manufacturing companies.

    See 2020 findings