This publication brings together two global agendas that WBCSD believes to be driving forces towards a positive and sustainable future, and where business has a crucial role to play: the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the realization of universal human rights for all.

WBCSD is delighted to collaborate with Shift, the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, on this compendium bringing together 15 practical examples of how individual companies and/or multi-stakeholder initiatives are aiming to address human rights impacts and, at the same time, are showing great promise in delivering meaningful contributions to the SDGs.

The report is organized around four issue areas, illustrating how they connect to the SDGs: forced labor, living wages, gender equality and land rights. Each has a number of company or initiative-specific cases. The case studies demonstrate that, by placing human rights at the center of their SDG strategies and activities, companies can ensure that they adopt a coherent and effective approach that maximizes their contributions to what the world needs.

This approach highlights that business respect for human rights is more than a requirement to “do no harm.” By proactively tackling human right issues, companies have the potential to break down significant barriers to development and positively impact the lives of millions of the most vulnerable individuals in society, contributing to the vision of peaceful and inclusive societies at the heart of the SDGs.