home
frankly speaking podcast

#36 Caroline Rees: Does Corporate Sustainability Reporting Really Make a Difference?

Listen to Caroline Rees, President and co-Founder of Shift, the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

How can companies and investors be agents of change for human and social rights?

After a tribute to Professor John Ruggie’s work (author of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights), you’ll hear Richard Howitt and Caroline discuss:

  • The role of business in society and if the “business of business is business” theory has proven to provide social equality
  • Corporate Reporting as a critical driver of sustainability
  • The confusion between social rights and human rights in reporting
  • How can companies move towards a sustainable business model

“The jury is in. The ways in which we’ve constructed this capitalism have not led to a trickle down of benefits - they have in fact led to a growth in inequality.

Reporting is a critical driver of business respect for human rights. If you’re doing it right and treating it as more than a minimal compliance exercise, there shouldn’t be a tension between reporting and action. We need accountability – external reporting drives internal conversation and shines a light on egregious impacts on people’s dignity and equality.”

Caroline Rees in Frankly Speaking

You may also like these episodes

32.54

#71 Antoni Ballabriga: Why ESG investment is still a business winner

What impact will the Omnibus simplification proposals have on banks, and what is their message to European policymakers? Listen to Antoni Ballabriga, Global Head for Sustainability Intelligence and Advocacy at BBVA

36.14

#70 Maria Tymtsias & Julia Otten: EU Omnibus Revealed and How Companies Should Respond

What have been the latest developments on the European Commission’s Omnibus proposals and how have companies reacted? Listen to Maria Tymtsias, co-founder of the Palau Project and Frank Bold’s Julia Otten 

39.20

#69 Anne Kelly: What Does Trump 2.0 Mean for Sustainable Business?

How can US businesses continue their work towards a green transition despite the Trump 2.0 administration’s efforts to derail them? Listen to Anne Kelly, Vice President of Government Relations at Ceres