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Primers | Thursday August 18, 2022

10 Human Rights Priorities for the Luxury Sector

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Human rights are inherent to all human beings. They are defined and established in more than 80 international legal instruments and define the fundamental protections of human dignity, needs, and freedoms, such as food, housing, privacy, personal security, and democratic participation. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, the responsibility to protect human rights has primarily fallen on governments. Beginning in the early 2000s, however, it became increasingly clear that the freedoms enshrined in the framework could also be violated—and promoted—by the private sector. In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the first international instrument to assign companies the responsibility to respect human rights.

The Guiding Principles state that companies must refrain from negatively impacting rights even when governments are failing to create or enforce necessary laws and that those victims of corporate abuses must have access to an effective remedy.

As part of this responsibility, the Guiding Principles require companies to actively identify and manage the negative human rights impacts that they may cause directly and those to which they contribute through their business practices and relationships. There are several key actions a company can take as part of this due diligence cycle: conduct a human rights assessment to determine which potential human rights impacts are most salient to their business, develop and publish a human rights policy to communicate expectations to stakeholders and business partners, ensure they have robust stakeholder engagement processes in place to support ongoing monitoring of potential or actual impacts and proactive action or remedy.

This issue brief identifies the 10 most relevant, urgent, and probable human rights impacts for businesses operating in the luxury sector. The information here is gathered from BSR’s direct engagement with luxury sector companies, as well as our 30 years of experience helping companies in all sectors manage their human rights risks.

The luxury sector comprises a wide range of businesses and activities, from manufacturing, including raw material production and processing, retailing, and distribution, to marketing and advertising of luxury goods. These include jewelry and watches, apparel, accessories, and eyewear.

While each of these different business activities will have its own human rights profile and challenges, this brief highlights universal risks for companies operating in the luxury sector. This spans the design and concept stage, sourcing and mining of raw materials ranging from cotton to exotic animal skins to gemstones, processing and manufacturing, packaging, and retailing, and disposal and destruction of unsold inventory, encompassing all the workers and local communities involved.

Blog | Wednesday August 17, 2022

Inside BSR: Q&A with Ellinor Haggebrink

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Tell us a bit about your background. Where are you from, and where are you based? What is your favorite hobby?

Born and raised in Sweden, I currently share my time between Copenhagen and Berlin. An increasingly flexible job culture that facilitates dynamic lifestyles has been one upside of the pandemic! Although an unusual set-up, it is not that surprising as traveling has always been my biggest hobby. Since childhood, I have constantly enjoyed exploring new places, which has given me some great experiences around the globe, such as milking cows on a kibbutz in Israel, working as a barista in Dublin, and waitressing on a beach in the Dominican Republic.

This has become less frequent in the past few years due to the pandemic, and in lockdowns, I had to find alternative solutions to keep the travel bug at bay. I started to “travel” via cuisine, by cooking foods from different parts of the world—a perfect combination with another hobby of mine!

How did you first get involved in sustainable business? How long have you been at BSR? What is your current role, and what does that entail?

Backpacking across five continents has opened my eyes to structural inequalities around the globe. Having said that, it has always been important for me to have a job that contributes to societal change. When it was time to (temporarily) put down the backpack, I decided to tie these dots together through a degree in Political Science at Lund University, Sweden.

I joined BSR in February as manager of ESG investing in the Financial Services team. Previously, I worked in the responsible investment industry, advising institutional investors on how to incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions. Engaging investee companies to improve their management of the most material ESG risks is also what drew me to BSR—an opportunity to create impact by working directly with member companies.

My role at BSR is a new position due to an increased demand for knowledge around ESG, not only from investors but just as much from issuers. I work together with our financial services members to incorporate ESG and responsible investment priorities into strategy and reporting, and I support non-financial members on how to enhance sustainability by applying the investor perspective.

What are some interesting projects that you get to work on as part of your role at BSR? What do you enjoy about them?

I provide ongoing support to private equity firms on integrating ESG considerations into the investment process, including guiding members through the landscape of financial instruments for corporate impact and providing insights on how ESG can be tied to executive compensation. The financial sector plays a crucial role in the world’s economy and has substantial leverage over all other industries and business activities. I’m proud to contribute to steering investments toward alignment with the SDGs and other sustainability frameworks in my daily work.

One thing that has taken up some of my time since joining is educating non-financial members on the relevance of ESG ratings and how these are used by investors. I feel inspired when I can reach out to high-growth companies that are often early in their ESG journey and nudge them in the right direction.

What issues are you passionate about and why? How does your work with BSR reflect that?

I have always been passionate about justice, which is closely connected to sustainability in my book. Since I joined the responsible investment industry, the importance of ESG has been climbing higher up on the agenda, but we need to roll up our sleeves even more. Business can play a vital role here, and allocation of capital is a strong action.

At the same time, the last decade has seen many positive developments and increased awareness of ESG from both investors and investee companies. The fact that the field is now becoming increasingly regulated both in Europe and the US underlines the importance of the work we do.

Besides knowing from an early age that I wanted a job with an agenda that drives positive change, I have always been attracted by working in dynamic and diverse teams with colleagues from all over the world. BSR ticks both boxes: I’m grateful to have found a job that allows me to connect with an amazingly passionate, skilled, and international bunch of people to develop business and personal relationships within a strongly purpose-driven organization.

People

Travis Osland

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Travis supports BSR member companies across various industries, focusing on sustainability management and climate change.

Prior to joining BSR, Travis was a Climate Corps Fellow with the City of San Rafael, where he helped the City advance its Zero Waste goals and develop a plan for creating a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient local economy. Previously, he worked at the Center for Food Innovation and Entrepreneurship where he performed research funded by WWF in the areas of on-farm food loss and produce donation.

Travis holds a MS in the emerging field of Biomimicry from Arizona State University and a BS in Environmental Science from Santa Clara University.

People

Sonia Teanio

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Sonia supports BSR’s work and member companies across different industries and areas of expertise, with a focus on sustainability management and financial services.

Prior to joining BSR, Sonia worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, where she focused on green finance and supported the integration of gender across its green investments and climate change agenda. Sonia also interned for the Office of the Executive Director at Europol in The Hague, where she assisted with the implementation of diversity and inclusion and stakeholder engagement initiatives.

Sonia holds a MA in Public Policy from King's College London and a BA in International Science, Development and Cooperation from the University of Turin. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.

People

Andrey Pertsov

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Andrey works with BSR member companies across industries with a focus on the intersection of finance and human rights.

Andrey comes to BSR from the financial services industry, with four years of experience as a management consultant within UBS' internal consulting team. Andrey brings to BSR a deep knowledge of large-scale business transformation and corporate responsibility. During his time at UBS, Andrey worked on six "change-the-bank" initiatives and received direct exposure to topics ranging across international client onboarding, regulatory compliance, pricing strategy, and technology transformation. He also spent a rotation with UBS's corporate responsibility team to help drive the completion of the RobecoSAM questionnaire that ultimately delivered UBS's fourth consecutive award as a Dow Jones Sustainability Index leader. Most recently, Andrey spent Summer 2021 working on Rights CoLab’s Mapping Civil Society Initiative, where he helped identify and feature innovative human rights organizations. 

Andrey holds a MIA in Economic and Political Development from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Economics and Psychology from Skidmore College. He speaks English and Russian.

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Sean McClellan

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Sean supports BSR member companies across various industries in respecting human rights across their organizations and value chains. Sean is especially interested in improving the social and environmental impacts of the jewelry industry.

Prior to working for BSR, Sean worked for the NGO Catholic Relief Services, where he wrote winning USAID proposals for conflict resolution and sustainable agriculture projects in West Africa. Sean has also worked with CRS and other NGOs across Latin America on school feeding and childhood nutrition projects, and he led Bountiful Children’s Foundation expansion through local partners into Bolivia and Colombia. Previously as a social worker, he advocated for parent-child rights in the US foster care system and served as a mentor to youth involved in the juvenile justice system.   

Sean holds a MPA from Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a BA in Social Work from Brigham Young University Hawaii.

People

Hansika Iyer

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Hansika works with BSR consumer product member companies on sustainability management projects.

Prior to joining BSR, Hansika managed apparel material and product development at Reebok. She also advised the senior leadership team on sustainability strategy and developed an internal sustainability education program. She has an extensive background in sustainable fashion, including designing a zero waste activewear collection, researching regenerative textile solutions, speaking at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit on achieving gender equality in the fashion industry, and consulting for a nonprofit supporting artisan communities in South America.

Hansika has a BS in Fiber Science and Apparel Design with a minor in Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University. She speaks English, Tamil, French, and Spanish. 

People

Meghan Grever

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Meghan supports BSR’s member companies within the consumer products sector. She focuses on healthcare and food, beverage, and agriculture.

Prior to joining BSR, Meghan worked in pharmaceutical advertising, managing strategic marketing activities for new-to-market products, emerging therapies, and well-established treatments for various medical issues. She also consulted for the Food and Agriculture Organization on strategic messaging and communications for programs focused on bolstering sustainability and practical solutions in food value chains via the reduction of food loss and waste. She also interned at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, where she focused on climate mitigation and reporting transparency.

Meghan has an Executive Master in Sustainability Leadership (EMSL) from Arizona State University and a BA in Communications (Journalism) from Temple University. She is a US Green Building Council-certified TRUE Zero Waste Advisor and has a Sustainable Resource Management Certification, accredited by the National Standards Board of the National Recycling Coalition.

People

Sandrine Moubarak

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Sandrine supports BSR member companies across industries and areas of expertise, with a focus on supply chain sustainability and sustainability management.

Prior to joining BSR, Sandrine worked as Program Manager at Makesense in the Philippines, where she designed and coordinated various initiatives to promote social and environmental action across the country. There, she led the Plastic Smart Cities program in partnership with WWF, where she supported and coached social entrepreneurs in creating viable solutions to eradicate plastic pollution. She has also intervened as an external consultant on sustainability-linked projects for companies in the logistics, agricultural, and social sectors. 

Sandrine holds a BCom in Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Social Business Strategy from McGill University and a MSc in Sustainability and Social Innovation from HEC Paris. She speaks French, English, Spanish and Arabic.

People

Trine Rosenberg

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As Office Coordinator, Trine provides administrative support for the BSR Copenhagen office. She supports the People & Culture Team, administration, events, accounting processes, human resources coordination, and IT support.

Prior to joining BSR, Trine worked as lead of the conference unit at a Danish research institution, where she coordinated events in close cooperation with the researchers. Before that, Trine worked as a PA/secretary at a larger Danish member organization for private businesses and employers that aimed to provide the best possible corporate conditions for their member companies.