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Blog | Monday November 13, 2017

Audrey Choi Emphasizes Need for Business Action for an Inclusive Economy at the BSR Conference 2017

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In a plenary address at the BSR Conference 2017, Morgan Stanley Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Audrey Choi emphasized the importance of business action in promoting inclusive growth. 

“At the end of the day, we are convinced that corporations, individually and collectively, are powerful forces for change,” Choi said.

Watch the full video below: 

The BSR Conference 2017 took place October 24-26 in Huntington Beach, California, and gathered sustainability leaders from business, government, and civil society to explore the theme of “How Business Leads.” Follow the conversation on Twitter at #BSR17. See all video highlights on BSR’s YouTube channel. 

Blog | Thursday November 9, 2017

The Sustainability Form 10-K: A Proposal

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I believe we need an equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 10-K for sustainability reporting. Allow me to explain why.

The Form 10-K and sustainability reports serve very similar purposes. The Form 10-K is required to contain the information necessary for informed decision-making by investors, while the sustainability report is expected to contain the information necessary for informed decision-making by a wider range of stakeholders.

However, the Form 10-K and the sustainability report have evolved to achieve these outcomes in very different ways.

Every company’s Form 10-K has an identical structure, and this makes it easy for analysts to know where to find the information they need. As someone said to me recently, “We all know our way around a Form 10-K.”

By contrast, sustainability reports come in many different shapes and sizes, and this makes the work of sustainability analysts assessing company performance on these issues much more difficult. We don’t all know our way around a sustainability report.

For example, every company’s Form 10-K contains a description of the business strategy, an analysis of the organization’s financial conditions and results of operations, material risk factors, financial statements, and executive compensation information. The information is numbered consistently, located in the same place, and presented the same way, which makes it relatively straightforward to compare companies across these metrics.

I believe that the usefulness of the sustainability report would be greatly enhanced by a similarly consistent structure. For example, every report could contain a list of sustainability risks and opportunities, a description of sustainability governance and management approach, an analysis of the company’s sustainability condition and performance, and a sustainability results statement. Comparability would be much easier if this information were always presented in the same way, with the same order and numbering.

There are four potential objections to my proposal.

1. It could be argued that sustainability reporting shouldn’t have its own version of the Form 10-K, and that instead sustainability information should be included in the “real” Form 10-K. I agree that sustainability information of material significance to investors should indeed be included in the “real” Form 10-K, ideally using the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. I also believe that business strategies should focus on long-term value creation with sustainability as a foundation. However, as SASB states, a lot of sustainability information sought by stakeholders is not of material interest to reasonable investors, and therefore it should not be included in the “real” Form 10-K.
2. Along similar lines, it could be argued that this proposal works against the trend toward the integrated thinking and integrated reporting promoted by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). I believe that an integrated narrative about how the company creates value is essential—however, the focus of the IIRC is on the creation of a concise narrative, not on the creation of a new report with the high level of detail found in a Form 10-K. As the IIRC conciseness principle states, “an integrated report is a concise communication about how an organization’s strategy, governance, performance, and prospects ... lead to the creation of value.”
3. It could be argued that the GRI content index already serves this purpose. To an extent this is true, as the GRI content index establishes a common numbering system and structure for sustainability information. The GRI standards also provide a highly credible list of content for inclusion in my proposed sustainability version of the Form 10-K. However, the reality is that most GRI content indexes are long lists of links, which do not provide the same level of usefulness or convenience as the Form 10-K. The GRI content index is a list, not a report.
4. Finally, it could be argued that my proposed “consistently structured form” approach is outdated in the age of the internet and social media. However, I believe the reverse is true—just as companies communicate their business strategies and performance in many ways outside the Form 10-K, so a sustainability version of the Form 10-K would store year-on-year comparable information in one formal location, freeing up space to communicate sustainability strategy and performance in other, more innovative ways. No longer would the sustainability report need to be all things to all people, and no longer would report writers feel the need to create catchy new report themes every year.

We live in the so-called “post-fact world,” an era of misinformation where public trust in business, government, and the media is at an all-time low. I believe this raises the stakes when it comes to the quality, robustness, and comparability of sustainability disclosures, as well as the importance of rigorous reporting processes.

A sustainability version of the Form 10-K can be part of the business response to this new era—and if reaction to this blog is positive, I’d be happy to propose a template.

Blog | Wednesday November 8, 2017

Microsoft’s Brad Smith Highlights Business Leadership at the BSR Conference 2017

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In a keynote address at the BSR Conference 2017, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith highlighted the company's experiences raising its voice on political issues and bridging the digital divide.

"As the first responders of this new era, those of us who are in the business of technology need to think about it as more than a business," Smith said. "We need to think about it as a cause to protect people."

Following his address, Smith joined a conversation with BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer and answered live questions from the audience and Twitter.

Watch the full video below:

The BSR Conference 2017 took place October 24-26 in Huntington Beach, California, and gathered sustainability leaders from business, government, and civil society to explore the theme of “How Business Leads.” Follow the conversation on Twitter at #BSR17. See all video highlights on BSR’s YouTube channel.

Blog | Tuesday November 7, 2017

In Defense of Transparency: Why Extractives Companies Should Remain Committed

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Last week, the U.S. government’s decision to withdraw from the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) landed with the thud of inevitability. The stated explanation for the decision—which affirms a commitment to EITI principles and focuses on unique aspects of the U.S. tax system—has little credibility, given the current state of play in the anti-corruption field.

While the U.S. policy environment may be shifting, extractives companies would nevertheless be well advised to continue to pursue holistic, innovative approaches to stakeholder engagement, strategy, and values in order to restore and maintain the public trust, which is increasingly essential to protecting their reputations and licenses to operate.

The EITI was created in 2002 as a joint effort by government, business, and civil society to help citizens of resource-rich countries hold their governments accountable. EITI aims to provide the public with knowledge of exactly how much money oil, gas, and mining companies pay to governments in taxes, royalties, and other fees.

Its essential goal, however, is the protection and support of fundamental human and civic rights. The premise? With access to this information, citizens can try to ensure that these vital financial resources are used for public health, education, and infrastructure, rather than to enrich powerful figures linked to national governance. 

Corruption used to be viewed as a problem afflicting developing countries, but this is no longer the case. The release of the Paradise Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has picked up and amplified Lux Leaks, the Panama Papers, and other whistleblowing efforts. Just as money launderers can easily buy property in New York and San Francisco, offshore tax havens are used by politicians, the children of dictators, and some of our most prestigious multinationals.

Transparency activists immediately slammed the U.S. decision on EITI, emphasizing that traditionally recalcitrant Russian and Chinese energy companies now adhere to higher disclosure standards than the U.S. demands of American enterprises. America has already stepped away from its goal of being a role model on human rights, climate justice, transparency, and international cooperation under the current administration. The turn away from EITI is more of the same.

Of greater interest than Washington’s isolationist agenda is what energy and extractives companies might gain from the U.S. decision to stall on transparency regulations. The short answer is: not much. But responses to the EITI debate provide fresh evidence of a widening split over how oil and gas majors regard the sector’s long-term future, as well as their relationship with investors and the public.

Those companies that have made corporate commitments to meet the EITI’s standards of payment transparency include BP, Repsol, Shell, and Statoil. It is no coincidence that these are the very companies that have also chosen openly to embrace the Paris climate agreement while touting their investments in gas and renewables. Exxon Mobil, too, publicly supported the Paris Agreement in the wake of Donald Trump’s election.

The big strategic distinction in the oil industry is no longer over whether to acknowledge and plan for the existential challenges facing the sector; it is about how transparent companies ought to be while the energy transition proceeds. To this end, two strategies have emerged.

The first has been to acknowledge the science of climate change and the problematic history of the sector’s relationship with the government, and then to model best practice on disclosure to regain trust. Some companies, mainly based in Europe, are making headway in this direction—with the understanding that, when it comes to transparency, the horse long ago bolted from the stable. Because companies today must act as if everything they say or do might become public, disclosure has become the optimal approach to issues like payments to governments and political candidates, plans for stranded assets, or strategies to meet a low-carbon future.

The second option has been to invest in the carbon transition and support transparency aspirations publicly while privately obstructing and stalling specific regulations and disclosure efforts for as long as possible. This approach may seem foolish to observers, but it buys some time for big investors and incumbents of the C-suite, who seem to think they might squeak through to retirement before the deluge strikes.

Oil and gas companies are perfectly aware of the deep deficit of trust. Some corporations seem to have concluded that efforts to move beyond a defensive public relations stance are destined to fail; indeed, the reputational benefits accruing from a more progressive approach have been mixed. So, with much of the debate polarized and entrenched and no clear path to public approval, some companies are retreating to the practices of habit as they wait to be dragged into the present after all other options have been exhausted.

With traditional approaches to managing corporate reputation no longer fit for purpose, companies need to devise strategies that extend far beyond reactive communication and public relations. Those corporations that hope to be considered innovative will need to embrace a holistic approach to stakeholder engagement, strategy, and values that prioritizes the importance of restoring trust, regardless of whether public policy requires them to do so.  

Blog | Monday November 6, 2017

Top 10 Reasons to Be a BSR Member

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I’ve recently had a number of conversations with my colleagues and sustainability leaders at long-standing member companies about the value of BSR membership—why is it that more than 250 of the world’s largest and most influential companies have chosen to work with us on the business of building a better world? There are a wide range of answers. Different people, even within the same company, have different reasons that they most appreciate their BSR membership. Here’s a “Top 10” list of the reasons to be a member that I hear the most:

1. Access our global network: With a network that spans eight offices around the world, includes more than 10 major industries, and convenes issue experts on a range of sustainability issues, BSR offers members personalized access to our community. We help make connections and leverage trusted relationships across regions, functions, sectors, and issues. In fact, we often introduce colleagues within the same company who don’t yet know each other. Companies love how we can connect them not only to businesses across industries, but also to key NGOs and other noncorporate stakeholders. As one member put it, "You (BSR) can call Shell, and you can call WWF, and they both pick up the phone." 
2. Draw upon our expertise: Members benefit from our deep expertise in specific issues, as well as our ability to draw connections across issues.  For example, we don’t only view climate from a climate lens—we also understand the implications of climate change on human rights and women’s empowerment, and this is true across issues. While many organizations offer deep expertise in one or two topics, your company can use BSR’s knowledge across most of the issues you focus on—meaning we can serve as a one-stop shop for your sustainability needs. Moreover, our diverse backgrounds help us “speak the language” of your colleagues in other teams and translate your sustainability priorities across departments.
3. Participate in business-focused convenings: BSR brings together the leading sustainable business voices in a variety of formats so that you and your colleagues can learn, engage, and walk away with practical insights. BSR organizes more than a dozen webinars per year as part of our Sustainability Matters series. These webinars (and their recordings) feature thought leaders discussing trends and best practices and are usually made available exclusively to BSR members. BSR also convenes member companies for regular regional networking and best-practice-sharing events, including breakfast presentations, workshops, and executive-level dinners. We host one of the world’s leading sustainable business events in the form of our annual BSR Conference, which just celebrated its 25th year. 
4. Collaborate for systemic solutions: At BSR, we know that an individual company cannot solve systemic sustainability challenges alone. Through structured platforms, we bring together peer companies, stakeholders, and whole industry value chains in search of shared solutions—from sharing best practices to changing business norms and working with multiple partners to implement change on the ground. We provide members the opportunity to shape, develop, and scale these action-oriented collaborations.  
5. Phone a friend (us): We are there to support our members as individuals in their efforts to advance sustainability in their organizations. Whether you have a large team or a team of one, BSR is your extended team—we are in your corner providing resources, support, and advocacy. We don't just tell you want you want to hear: We are constructive partners, but we also bring credibility and stakeholder perspectives to the conversation. You can call on us to meet with one of your executives, help answer day-to-day questions (e.g. investor questions, preparing for executive meetings, etc.), or identify off-the-shelf resources before you spend time starting from scratch (e.g. examples of good policies, slides on topics, etc.). I always tell members to reach out more; after all, you don’t know if you don’t ask.
6. Take advantage of formal membership benefits: We’ve structured a number of ways to make sure you benefit from our experience—through your member engagement option, quarterly check-ins, and an annual member meeting, you can find out about our latest learnings from the field. In addition to responding to ad-hoc questions, BSR provides practical, regular support across sustainability issues informed by our decades of work with companies.
7. Stay ahead of trends and emerging issues: BSR members also benefit from the opportunity to stay ahead of emerging issues and plan for tomorrow. The biweekly BSR Insight provides an overview of BSR’s most recent thinking, research, and events. You can share this with multiple contacts across your company, so everyone can learn about sustainability topics relevant to their roles. Our new Sustainable Futures Lab will also provide you with even greater ability to anticipate how future changes might impact sustainable business.  
8. Drive visibility and gather input for your company’s sustainability efforts: BSR provides a well-respected, credible platform to showcase innovative practices and gather feedback on challenges. Our members speak at BSR events; they share practices and develop partnerships via our collaborations; and they are highlighted as case studies in BSR’s research, website, social media, blog, and reports and publications. 
9. Find your next colleague: This is perhaps the simplest but most underrated benefit of BSR membership—our jobs board: We’ve posted more than 1,000 job opportunities since 2001. Given that we have such a fantastic network, BSR members often tell us that they find the best job candidates via their (free) postings on our careers page. We all know how overwhelming the hiring process can be and how hard it is to find the right people, but we aim to simplify this for BSR members with our website.
10. Shape the future of sustainable business: We view our members as real partners as we work together to shape the future of our field. Over the past 25 years, our members have been central to defining our work, and as we look ahead, we invite you to collaborate with us on creating a new agenda, a new approach, and a new voice for business. We’ve recently launched a paper on "The Future of Sustainable Business" to initiate this dialogue, and we hope our members will join us in articulating, and then achieving, a new vision together.

Why is your company a BSR member? Are there any reasons that are missing from this list? Let us know on Twitter @BSRnews using the #BSRmember hashtag, email us, or join us for our upcoming webinar about BSR membership. 

Blog | Thursday November 2, 2017

Reflections from the BSR Conference 2017 (And How to Review Highlights)

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It’s been one week since the sun set on our 25th anniversary celebration at the BSR Conference 2017 in Huntington Beach, California. Since our 2016 Conference, which took place right before the U.S. election last November, a lot has changed in the world: Political volatility has increased, nationalistic sentiments are on the rise, we’ve experienced increased economic and technological disruptions, and policy changes around the globe are reshaping the path forward for business.

At the same time, in the past year, hundreds of businesses and leaders from the private sector, NGOs, U.S. local and state governments, and civil society have stepped up on an unprecedented scale and raised their voices on issues ranging from climate action to diversity and inclusion.

Last week at BSR17, we convened our member network and community to discuss how business can continue this momentum on sustainability leadership. Inspiration, positivity, and action-planning set the tone throughout our three days in Huntington Beach—in between sunrise yoga and al fresco meal functions, participants gathered to hear from changemakers on the plenary stage: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore encouraged businesses to continue to take climate action, Microsoft’s Brad Smith described the company’s experience raising its voice on political issues and bridging the digital divide, and Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards urged companies to support women’s empowerment and health, specifically by committing to provide birth control regardless of regulatory changes in the U.S.

Breakout sessions on topics like engaging on public policy in uncertain times, futures thinking, and harnessing technologies for supply chain sustainability brought the brilliant minds of the BSR community together to discuss best practices and new ideas.

Here are five ways that you can re-live the highlights of our event—or catch the things you missed:

1. Watch plenary session videos: Almost every plenary session is now live on our YouTube channel, from Richards’ standing-ovation-receiving speech, to Morgan Stanley’s Audrey Choi’s presentation on inclusive growth, to a panel on how corporations can help solve the global refugee crisis, to National Geographic Photographer Annie Griffiths’ inspiring talk on the power of photography as a tool for telling stories and creating empathy.
2. See the social media highlights: Follow @BSRnews, @BSRherproject, and BSR staff on Twitter, and see what you missed on the #BSR17 hashtag. You will also find photo highlights on our Instagram accounts, @bsrorg and @herprojectbsr.
3. Find yourself in photos: We’ve uploaded photos from the week onto our Flickr account—head on over to see whether we captured you, or your favorite moment, in our BSR Conference album.
4. Share your thoughts: If you were with us in Huntington Beach, please take a moment to complete the Conference survey (available in the mobile app under “Surveys”). If you weren’t there, you can always tweet at us or email us your perspective.
5. Read our new insights: We launched several new publications last week, including our new report on The Future of Sustainable Business. And we published blog posts about a new UN Foundation report on how business can support women’s health and empowerment and Morgan Stanley’s new framework on embedding inclusive growth. Our new Climate Policy Tracker tool with We Mean Business is also now live.

Thank you for participating in our 25th anniversary event, whether you were stage-side in the ballroom with us or tuning in via Twitter and the livestream. You make our community strong, and the BSR Conference wouldn’t be as enlivening and inspiring without you—as Levi Strauss & Co. Vice President of Sustainability Michael Kobori proclaimed on stage during our BSR Alumni panel, “The BSR Conference has converted me from an optimistic pessimist to an optimistic optimist.”

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for November 6-8, 2018, when we head back to the East Coast for the BSR Conference 2018 in New York. We hope to see you next year!

Blog | Wednesday November 1, 2017

Introducing the We Mean Business Climate Policy Tracker

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The Paris Agreement on climate change was a historic turning point. It gave businesses much-needed clarity on global policy direction and provided a valuable roadmap for creating the low-carbon economy.  

Today, we are excited to introduce the Climate Policy Tracker, an online tool led by BSR, which is intended to help businesses realize the immense benefits of embracing a low-carbon future by providing the up-to-date landscape of climate regulation.

Nationally Determined Contributions—the climate action plans individual countries have articulated to realize the Paris vision—are currently being implemented at scale, transforming the regulatory landscape that businesses operate in, sector by sector. According to a recent study from the London School of Economics, up to 47 new laws have been ratified around the globe since the Paris Agreement was adopted.    

Now is a defining moment for companies to embrace the transition to the low-carbon economy. Businesses that effectively prepare for these new policies and sustainable investment opportunities will be in a better position to seize the benefits of the transition. These include innovation, risk management, competitiveness, and growth—opportunities that, as Morgan Stanley noted in a recent blog post, could amount to US$10 trillion annually by 2050.

Not only are policymakers actively working to address the threat of climate change through new laws, for example, that would phase out fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, but we are also seeing companies respond to this clear policy direction. For example, just last month, GM announced plans to launch 20 new electric vehicles by 2023—plans that are aligned with new regulations to promote a shift to electric vehicles in countries like India and the U.K.

Guide to Action

Accurate and up-to-date information on climate policy can help inform corporate strategy and investment decisions. Moreover, this information can help to demonstrate the need for corporate climate action to key stakeholders, including investors, board members, and employees.

The tool can also simplify a potentially complex process. Businesses can quickly identify regulations relevant to their operations and supply chains and recognize critical differences between geographies and sectors that are vital to factor into low-carbon strategies.

The tracker currently includes 120 policies from nine geographies—China, the United States, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, and the U.K. Moving forward, more countries will be added to the tool, as will information on policies in cities, states, and regions.  

By highlighting relevant climate regulation, the tracker points businesses to how they can practically respond through commitments from the We Mean Business coalition’s Take Action campaign.  

Business Is Leading

Forward-looking companies are responding to the challenges that climate change presents with ever-more-ambitious plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions across their value chains. To date, more than 620 companies have committed to climate action via the Take Action campaign, including some 130 industrial companies, more than 40 utilities, and three of the world’s largest consumer goods companies: Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever.

Together, these companies have committed to cut some 2.31 gigatons of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions—a reduction that would be equivalent to the total annual emissions of Russia.

The growing action from companies to combat climate change is giving governments increased confidence to ratchet up their own commitments, supporting their efforts to fully implement the Paris Agreement with targeted policy interventions.

As the scale and ambition of climate policies increase, forward-looking companies can utilize the Climate Policy Tracker to stay ahead of the curve. By embracing and acting on climate policy in this way, businesses are demonstrating their abilities to future-proof their operations and their active support for the Paris vision.

Learn more about the Climate Policy Tracker for business.

Blog | Tuesday October 31, 2017

Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards Urges Business to Support Women’s Healthcare at BSR17

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In a keynote address at the BSR Conference 2017, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards highlighted the role of business in advancing women's empowerment and access to women's healthcare.

"The good news is that business and business leaders are best positioned to lead us out of the patriarchy and into the light," Richards said.

Following her address, which received a standing ovation, Richards joined a conversation with BSR Senior Vice President Laura Gitman and answered live questions from BSR Conference participants on Twitter.

Watch the full video below:

The BSR Conference 2017 took place October 24-26 in Huntington Beach, California, and gathered sustainability leaders from business, government, and civil society to explore the theme of “How Business Leads.” Follow the conversation on Twitter at #BSR17. See all video highlights on BSR’s YouTube channel. 

Blog | Thursday October 26, 2017

Embedding Inclusive Growth in Business Decisions: A Framework for Companies and Investors

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Decades of globalization and technological innovation have produced tremendous economic growth, but the distribution of benefits has been skewed toward a few. This inequality has given rise to economic and social instability, which is now further exacerbated by global challenges of rapid urbanization, extreme weather events, and advancing automation.

While governments will play an important role in making progress on these issues, the private sector will be a key player in contributing to the sustainable development agenda and achieving a more inclusive economy. Those companies who understand that growing responsibly does not mean sacrificing efficiency or profits are likely to succeed in this new era: Inclusive growth is good business. 

In fact, broad, inclusive growth creates an external environment more conducive to business growth, namely through an improved operating environment and enhanced consumer purchasing power. It can also provide internal benefits, such as improved retention, productivity, and ethics; a culture that encourages innovation; and enhanced relationships with suppliers.

How do companies help foster this? First, they must understand how the current lack of inclusive growth impacts their businesses. Then, they need to examine how they might impact inclusion via their employees, operations, products and services, and overall management.

In collaboration with BSR, Morgan Stanley has developed a framework to explore the relationship between inclusive growth and business performance. A new paper, “Inclusive Growth Drivers: The Anatomy of a Corporation,” lays out how corporations can positively influence inclusive growth through decisions across all functional areas of their businesses. This work breaks down the “anatomy of a corporation” into four key areas through which company actions can achieve societal and business benefits. Further, investors can use this framework to evaluate risks and opportunities related to inclusive growth.

For each functional area represented in the “anatomy of a corporation,” we focus on the levers that companies can use to integrate inclusive growth into their business decisions.

Human Resources

Choices about diversity, hiring and staffing practices, labor relations, and training and professional development affect employee financial and physical well-being, innovation, and the overall success of businesses. Companies can build inclusive workplaces with job security, good working conditions, and/or profit sharing, either directly in their own operations or through their value chains.

Products and Services    

Decisions here can consider the needs of more and newer consumer segments; products can be marketed and sold in fair ways, and customer needs can be more broadly considered from concept and design through the life of the product. By creating accessible and affordable products that meet critical needs in healthcare, infrastructure, education, and other sectors, companies can contribute to a more inclusive consumer economy.

Operations Management

Operational decisions affect how goods and services reach end customers, and how workers are treated throughout the supply chain. They also give small and diverse suppliers an opportunity to participate in economic growth. By monitoring working conditions and working with suppliers to build capabilities, companies can deepen relationships and create a more reliable supplier base.

Firm Governance and Management    

Sound governance and transparent management practices promote corporate ethics, long-term thinking, and consideration of all stakeholders—including but not limited to shareholders. Companies can also use their political and social capital to influence the policy environment in ways that promote inclusive policies for labor, trade, taxes, and fair market competition.

Inclusive growth can provide a mutually beneficial environment for both companies and society. For businesses and investors, developing an inclusive growth mindset provides direct benefits like greater talent attraction, access to new markets, improved product innovation, and enhanced reputation. By taking a thoughtful look at inclusive growth levers in business decisions, companies can realize business benefits while also contributing to a more prosperous, inclusive, and stable society.

Blog | Wednesday October 25, 2017

How Business Can Act Now for Women’s Health and Empowerment: Q&A with Robyn Russell

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Today sees the release of the new business guide, How Businesses Can Invest in Women and Realize Returns, co-authored by the UN Foundation, the Evidence Project led by the Population Council, and BSR’s HERproject. The guide encourages corporate leadership and showcases how companies can take action in the field of women workers’ health and empowerment. We sat down with Robyn Russell, Deputy Director of the Universal Access Project at the UN Foundation, to discuss private sector action for women’s health and well-being.

Dominic Kotas: What is the link between health and empowerment in developing countries?

Robyn Russell: If you think about your own life, it becomes very clear: if you have access to the health services you need—including family planning, prenatal care, maternity leave, and so on—you’re going to be more empowered and more in control of your life.

Women in developing countries, who might be entering the formal workforce for the first time, need all the same things that we do in order to be healthy and empowered and advance their careers. In particular, they need family planning, because if you can’t choose when you become a parent, you can’t have very much control over your career.

Kotas: What are the biggest challenges around women’s health globally?

Russell: Our guide focuses on women in supply chains, many of whom move from rural areas to urban areas for their first employment. They have often lacked basic healthcare services: everything from menstrual hygiene management, to family planning, to prenatal care, to information about protecting themselves from sexually-transmitted infections. So, this is a real opportunity to meet women where they are and provide them with those services, whether that’s through factory clinics or referrals to local clinics. Of course, the stakes in developing countries are much higher, because we know that lack of access to family planning and good maternal care are leading causes of death and disability for many women and girls in developing countries.

Kotas: How far have we come and how far do we still have to go?

Russell: Historically, these areas have been underfunded and deprioritized. Under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we saw minimal progress on reductions in maternal mortality and access to family planning. Fortunately, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have a focus on health (Goal 3) and gender equality (Goal 5), and we’re hopeful we can make progress.

The global health community is working very hard on women’s health through several initiatives, such as Family Planning 2020. However, there is a real role and opportunity for the private sector, especially as women move out of the informal workforce and into the formal workforce. One billion women will enter the global workforce over the next two decades, and 94 percent of them will be in emerging and developing economies. Sectors like textiles, clothing, and footwear employ an estimated 60-75 million people, of which three quarters are women. Action in global supply chains to advance women’s health can have a major impact.

Kotas: We’ve seen more action from business on this issue over the past decade. What has been the driver for this?

Russell: We’re increasingly seeing consumers making purchasing choices based on the social and ethical credentials of brands. Businesses are also realizing that by investing in the health and empowerment of women, particularly in their supply chains, they can see a return on investment—they can reduce turnover, absenteeism, and so on. It’s a win-win for business: you have healthier, happier workers, and you’re reducing costs to production while creating an ethically-made product that’s in greater demand from your customers. Our new business guide highlights current investments from 26 companies working with 11 NGOs in 19 countries, giving readers a number of models for action. From the global public health side, health organizations are realizing they can reach more people by using these networks to make interventions through companies and workplaces.

Kotas: Who and what can help business go further?

Russell: To date, most investments have been as smaller pilots—but we are now seeing companies ready to scale throughout their supply chains and networks. If it’s a matter of support and coordination, we at the UN Foundation are prepared to help companies bridge that gap. NGOs, civil society groups, labor groups, and governments also have a role to play. In the business guide, we outline a list of organizations around the world that are already working with companies and are ready to jump in and do more.

Another avenue is to make sure that women’s health and empowerment are incorporated into standards and certifications, so that these practices are sustainable in the long-term.

We also need buy-in from the folks on the ground: the workers, the local vendors, and the governments in countries where this is happening. We want to listen to workers and understand what they need, so that we can make the most impactful interventions possible.

Kotas: What would be your message to business leaders?

Russell: I would have two. First: If you want to get ahead of the curve on this, now is the time to make these investments. This will be the new norm moving forward. And secondly, we—the global health community, NGOs, and others—stand ready to help you make this transition.