Newsletter #18
In this issue:
The merger between B4IG and the WBCSD’s Equity Action Imperative
A look back on B4IG’s actions
The future
Joining forces to create more impact at scale
As we have communicated previously, B4IG is completing the process of merging with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s Equity Action Imperative to create the WBCSD B4IG Equity Action platform.
From the beginning of the discussions between B4IG and WBCSD, the driving force has been the potential to unite the efforts of our respective networks of business leaders and partners to advance an inclusive growth agenda at scale.
Thanks to these synergies, the new WBCSD B4IG Equity Action platform unites a trusted community of leading businesses with a standing commitment to equity. As such, it gives access to a rich network of experts, methodologies, and leading practices that help businesses transform value chains and navigate an increasingly complex market landscape.
Additionally, please keep an eye out for next steps, namely the upcoming phase of the Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) that will be formally announced during the gathering at Davos on 17 January. Hosted by the WBCSD, the BCTI is the umbrella entity overseeing the Equity Action Platform. It is an ambitious business-led, multi-stakeholder initiative focused on shaping equitable markets and systems. The 60+ Members of BCTI will be embarking on a two-year continuation to (1) elevate inequality as an essential boardroom agenda; (2) coordinate shared action and system-level progress across the 10 areas of its Tackling Inequality Action Agenda; and (3) foster markets where social performance and accountability are a given.
As we celebrate and get ready for the future of B4IG, we are proud to share the main achievements of B4IG since it was created in 2019. In doing so, we’d like to make special mention of the strong engagement and supportive leadership of successive B4IG co-chairs, Emmanuel Faber and Ilham Kadri, and OECD Secretaries-General Angel Gurría and Mathias Cormann.
We also would like to pay tribute to the various teams that worked behind the scenes, including the OECD WISE Centre, the B4IG Sherpa group that led the work within B4IG companies, the working group leads and all the member company representatives and partners who have contributed to this substantial work.
The B4IG Actions (2019-2023)
Human Rights
Among the key areas covered by the B4IG Pledge, a clear priority for B4IG has been the advancement of human rights in direct operations and supply chains. This has taken various forms, from welcoming as soon as December 2020 the European-wide proposal on mandatory human rights due diligence, to developing actionable tools such as the B4IG Human Rights Toolbox on Agency Workers and Service Providers, published in 2022. Most recently, there was the release of the B4IG Operational-level Principles & Wording for Grievance Mechanisms in Supplier Codes of Conduct and the Fair Recruitment Toolkit that aids employers and service providers at each stage of a migrant worker’s recruitment journey.
These achievements have only been possible thanks to the dedicated collective and individual efforts within the Human Rights Working Group. Particular thanks go to the Working Group Leads, Sodexo and VINCI, and to all working group participants. All will have the opportunity to join forces with companies from the WBCSD’s Equity Action Imperative to continue strengthening Human Rights policies and practices.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In the wake of critical movements such as Black Lives Matter, B4IG has been a key participant in global conversations around Ethnic Diversity & Inclusion. In October 2022, the Working Group was proud to release the B4IG Operational Recommendations on Ethnic Diversity & Inclusion, which presented collective experiences and learnings from leading global companies on how businesses can take action on ethnic diversity to meet the needs of diverse cultural contexts all over the world, including in Europe.
Most recently, the group has continued to expand its scope by taking on another global challenge, that of shifting demographics and the resultant multigenerational workforces, a workstream managed in close partnership with the OECD and that will be continued within the WBCSD B4IG Equity Action platform.
Once again, these accomplishments were only possible through the dedication of the Working Group Leads, first Accenture and Salesforce and then Henkel, member companies, and all working group participants.
Living Wage
In June 2021, B4IG was the first global business coalition to adopt a statement promoting the concept of living wage, emphasising the critical role of companies in alleviating poverty in their workplaces and their supply chains.
Following this strong stance, Working Group Leads Unilever and L’Oréal coordinated a 6-month work cycle to support member companies, enabling them to learn from experts and their peers through share out sessions and discussions on common challenges. The Key Learnings from the work cycle on Living Wage were published in July 2023, with the objective of helping companies advance on these issues. These focused on key topics ranging from gap analysis processes and third-party auditing to transparency and engagement with suppliers.
Let us also mention the working paper Living wages in context: A comparative analysis for OECD countries, published in April 2023 by the OECD WISE Centre within the programme of work with B4IG. Reviewing the most-used living wage methodologies, the report concludes with recommendations for a common framework as well as recommendations to stakeholders.
This effective action-oriented approach combining CEO-level engagement and hands-on discussions and tools will be taken over by the WBCSD B4IG Equity Action Platform’s living wage working group.
Just Transition
At B4IG, we have been focusing on the ‘just transition’ since 2021, under the leadership of Crédit Agricole and then Hitachi, as well as Unilever and Michelin in the workstream focusing on responsible transformation.
Ahead of the COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021, B4IG CEOs adopted a statement calling for people to be put at the heart of climate action. This statement underlined the central role that businesses have to play in addressing the potential social challenges and impacts of the ecological transition, and accompanying workers, consumers, communities, and society to ensure an inclusive and just transition.
Then in March 2022 the B4IG Responsible Transformation Guidelines contributed to a more responsible way of managing restructurings with 11 inclusive actions presented under 3 pillars: (1) preparing for transformation, (2) proactively planning the transformation and implementing a step-by-step procedure, and (3) providing support to vulnerable workers and related communities as well as preventing discrimination in the restructuring process. The objective was to encourage open dialogue and knowledge transfers across the global business community on a complex and sensitive topic.
Finally, these efforts were complemented in March of this year by a set of B4IG indicators to measure the social challenges of the Just Transition. These indicators, mainly based on existing reports and frameworks, can help companies identify, assess, and address the social impacts of the transition in their own operations, supply chains, and business relationships.
The Just Transition will remain a major piece of the WBCSD B4IG Action Platform.
Inclusive Sourcing
Under L’Oréal’s leadership, a few member companies worked together to develop the B4IG Inclusive Sourcing Methodology (June 2022), building on the L’Oréal’s Solidarity Sourcing Programme.
Through a step-by-step approach, the methodology builds on companies’ experiences and learnings to provide practical tips and concrete examples to support companies throughout their inclusive sourcing journey. To this end, three key stages have been identified: (1) engaging the company’s team and leadership on a common vision, (2) building an Inclusive Sourcing roadmap and (3) ensuring the company is engaged in a transformation journey.
As a continuation of this work on the supply chain, group members have recently been exploring the topic of inclusive waste management, with the objective of helping companies implement approaches to ensure the respect of human rights and assess working conditions in post-consumer recycled content supply chains. The strong WBCSD position on the circular economy should enable this nascent work to be followed up in concrete terms.
Social metrics and impact measurement
Initially led by BASF and focusing on impact measurement, this workstream has been closely coordinated with the OECD, which published two papers related in part to this work: Measuring the non-financial performance of firms through the lens of the OECD Well-being Framework (2022) and Valuing business impacts in the areas of wage inequality and employee well-being (2023).
Under Kering’s leadership, it then evolved to focus on outcome indicators and impacts in the areas of the B4IG Pledge, with the objective of selecting and piloting the indicators that could be recommended to companies. The Working Group started with living wage and then expanded to forced labour-related indicators.
Last but not least, B4IG has launched the concept of a Taskforce on Social-related Financial Disclosures (TSFD) with the objective of ensuring consistency and comparability across social reporting standards. The goal is to develop the equivalent of the global frameworks created by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) for social issues. The project has merged with other comparable initiatives, with the objective to create the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD). The Taskforce should be launched in the first half of 2024 and will be strongly supported by WBCSD as part of its Accountability Pillar.
The Incubator
Over the last four years, 40 project teams from member companies have participated in annual training programs on inclusive business practices, while also benefiting from customised consulting support on how to strengthen their projects’ business model and value proposition in order to prepare for scaling up.
Specific efforts are highlighted in the Incubator’s video presentations of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 cohorts. In 2023, all selected projects enjoyed an in-person bootcamp in Paris organised together with the WBCSD, followed by customised support for each project team. This format reinforced the value of the Incubator in providing innovative ways to scale up business actions through a practical approach. The incubator will be continued in 2024.
The Financing Forum
The B4IG Inclusive Growth Financing Forum (IGFF) aims to foster partnerships to fund strategic and transformative inclusive growth initiatives. It has evaluated ongoing inclusive growth funding mechanisms, designed investment frameworks, and initiated new partnerships between B4IG member companies.
As a direct output of the IGFF, the coalition has contributed to the project of the Just Transition Fund, soon to be launched by Amundi. The Fund will support SMEs and SMIs in their efforts to increase their economic performance and scale up their ecological and social impacts. It will involve key stakeholders, especially member companies, and will be connected to the new Just Transition workstream.
And others…
While other working groups have not published deliverables, they have organised many working sessions that have proven very fruitful: the Access working group led by AXA and Enel, the Digital Divide working group led by Capgemini, Salesforce and Microsoft, as well as the workstream focusing on helping vulnerable young people access the labor market, led by Schneider Electric.
Back to the Future
On behalf of outgoing B4IG CEO Camille Putois and the rest of the B4IG team, we thank B4IG companies and partners once again for their support of and active engagement in the collective job of moving the world towards better, more inclusive forms of growth. We are confident that this merger will be seen as a key moment when diverse efforts effectively concentrated themselves, accelerating everyone involved towards their shared, ultimate goal.
We are excited to see these continued efforts contributing, under the leadership of the WBCSD B4IG Equity Action Platform led by Senior Director Carolien de Bruin, to the construction of a more sustainable world. And with that, from now on this newsletter will be managed by the WBCSD B4IG Equity Action Team.
Forward!
The B4IG team