ShareAction calls for ISSB to prioritise human rights reporting 

September 1st, 2023

Investor coalition ShareAction has written to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to design international reporting standards for human and worker rights.

ShareAction, which represents investors managing over $1trn in assets, called on the ISSB to make human capital and human rights a priority for its upcoming two-year work plan.

In a letter, the coalition said investor demand for greater volumes of better-quality workforce data and interest in related issues has reached an all-time high.

James Coldwell, head of the workforce disclosure initiative at ShareAction, said: “We know that workers around the world face exploitation by unscrupulous companies, harming the workers themselves and creating risks for investors.

“Tackling these issues can only be achieved when there is transparency around corporate practices – something the ISSB is perfectly positioned to deliver.”

In the ISSB’s current Request for Information, human capital and human rights are considered two separate research areas.

But ShareAction said neither companies nor investors treat them as two distinct areas, so standards will not reflect the reality of market practices in their current form.

Vincent Kaufmann, chief executive of signatory Ethos Foundation, said: “COVID-19 – and the subsequent mass fluctuation it caused in the labour market – has emphasised just how critical human beings are to the long-term success of any business.”

ShareAction claimed the financial materiality of these issues has become increasingly clear in recent years and it is crucial that investors have access to comprehensive and comparable social data from businesses to help inform investment decisions.

Earlier this year, the coalition criticised the European Parliament’s decision to ‘water down’ rules for financial institutions to hold them accountable for human rights and environmental violations in their value chain.