Human rights risk and impact reporting almost non-existent in the financial sector

Financial institutions have an important role to play in human rights due diligence when financing and investing in companies. Outside of the minimum legal requirements, less than 7% of the 400 institutions assessed disclose the process they have in place to identify human rights risks and impacts within their own operations, and less than 3% within their financing activities. It is therefore impossible to see if they are fulfilling their role managing and incentivising businesses in their portfolios to operate ethically, even at the most basic level. As the finance sector acknowledges its role in the climate transition, there is much work to do in its contribution to the social transition.