Report presents panorama of human rights policies in Brazilian businesses
Approximately 60 public and private companies participated in the study
Human rights, corporate social responsibility and due diligence are not unfamiliar themes in the institutional policies of companies working in Brazil, principally in large and medium-sized ones. These policies, however, are not always accompanied by practical changes in business activities or by deeper changes in business models.
This was noted in the Second Report to Monitor Recommendations Made to Brazil by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, published in March this year by Conectas.
The study was based on a questionnaire presented to organisations connected to Instituto Ethos and Rede Brasil of the Global Compact – which is composed of approximately 500 corporations – and was completed by 59 companies who answered questions on their human rights policies and practices. The majority of the companies were private (84.7%), large or medium-sized, with an annual revenue of more than R$ 100 million and over 200 employees.
More than half the companies that responded to the questionnaire said they have institutional human rights policies (52.5%), and this number rises to 60.7% when the sample is restricted to large organisations.
However, most say that the policy is not approved by higher levels of company management (57.1%), is not public (62.5%) and has not been revised since it was introduced (71.4%).
The results of the study are similar to the conclusions of recently published research by EY, entitled “To what extent is sustainability an integral part of your business?”. According to this research, which is an analysis of the situation in over 260 medium and large businesses, although companies have understood that their reputations are directly linked to sustainability matters, the department responsible for this still has little decision making power within corporations.
“Although companies have already realised the importance of having institutional human rights policies, in practice the vast majority of them are not public and are not reviewed once they have been introduced. Less than half can count on approval by higher levels of management.” Explained Caio Borges, Coordinator of Development and Socioenvironmental Rights at Conectas.
“The implementation of these guidelines in a more serious and responsible way would avoid large scale socioenvironmental disasters and would protect the lives and well-being of the people who are affected by the companies’ activities, as well as their own employees.” He concluded.
Visit to Brazil by UN Working Group
A little over three years ago, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights carried out an official visit to Brazil, focusing on locations that are affected by business activities, including Mariana, Belém and Altamira, among others.
Subsequent to the visit, in the first semester of 2016, specialists set out 32 recommendations, 21 of which were to the Brazilian state, four to civil society and seven were aimed at public and private companies working in Brazil. In May 2018, Conectas carried out its first evaluation of fulfilment of the measures recommended to the Brazilian government and businesses.
In this second study, the organisation revisited the working agenda proposed by the Working Group in 2016, updating information based on events between May and December 2018, such as the election period and progress in proceedings for legislative proposals mentioned by the experts.
