Leaders’ voices
56 executives have signed the WBCSD call to action on human rights. In our video series we ask the executives leading the call to tell us why this matters to them and to their companies.
Call to Action for Business Leadership on Human Rights
Join us in mobilizing business leadership for human rights
Companies affect human rights every day in their interactions with employees, suppliers, consumers, partners
By proactively addressing human rights, companies have the potential to break down significant barriers to development and positively impact the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people. Human rights need to be an integral part of any company’s sustainability agenda and the public expects CEOs to personally show leadership on issues of purpose and impact.
Pioneering business leaders are taking up the call. Forward thinking CEOs are sending clear messages to raise the bar for human rights performance, embed human rights in corporate culture, set clear expectations of suppliers and business partners, and drive innovative collaborations with peers, government and civil society.
Their companies stand to enhance their business performance by reducing legal and regulatory risk, strengthening reputation, protecting their license to operate, acquiring and retaining talent, winning customers and earning their trust and loyalty. As a result, investors increasingly care, affecting companies’ valuation and cost of capital.
Most importantly, these leaders drive their companies to go beyond risk and compliance and bring transformative, positive change to the lives of people who are affected by business operations.
By contributing to the realization of universal human rights for all, a company makes a pivotal contribution to the broader vision of peaceful and inclusive societies embraced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This is a call to action to our peers. We invite you to join us in mobilizing business leadership for human rights.
Signatories of WBCSD’s call to action
Sunny Verghese
Chair of WBCSD, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Olam
Peter Bakker
President & CEO, WBCSD
Björn Rosengren
CEO, ABB Ltd.
José Manuel Entrecanales
Chairman & CEO, Acciona
Peter Oosterveer
CEO, Arcadis
Alfred Stern
CEO, Borealis AG
Bernard Looney
CEO, BP
Vasco de Mello
Chairman & CEO, Brisa
Philip Jansen
CEO, BT
Suphachai Cheravanont
CEO, C.P. Group
David MacLennan
Chairman & CEO, Cargill
Fernando A. González Olivieri
CEO, CEMEX
Richard Lancaster
Chief Executive Officer, CLP Holdings Limited
Dominic Blakemore
Chief Executive Officer, Compass Group
Jean-Bernard Lévy
Chairman & CEO, EDF
Miguel Stilwell de Andrade
Interim CEO and CFO, EDP
Claudio Descalzi
CEO, ENI
Keryn James
CEO, ERM
Eldar Sætre
President & CEO, Equinor
Gilbert Ghostine
CEO, Firmenich
Masami Yamamoto
Director Chairman, Fujitsu
Gilles Andrier
Chief Executive Officer, Givaudan
Nadir Godrej
Managing Director, Godrej Industries
Brian Griffith
Chairman of the Board, Griffith Foods
Jorge Mario Velásquez
CEO, Grupo Argos
Toshiaki Higashihara
President & CEO, Hitachi Ltd.
Sanjiv Puri
Chairman & Managing Director, ITC Ltd.
Steven Cahillane
Chairman & CEO, Kellogg’s
Jan Jenisch
CEO, LafargeHolcim
Michael Gelchie
CEO, Louis Dreyfus Company
Andreas Eggenberg
Chairman, Masisa
Florent Menegaux
CEO, Michelin
Brad Smith
President, Microsoft Corporation
Andrea Àlvares
Chief Marketing, Innovation & Sustainability Officer, Natura
Peter Vanacker
President and CEO, Neste Corporation
Magdi Batato
Executive Vice President & Head of Operations, Nestlé
Shingo Konomoto
Chairman, President and CEO, Nomura Research Institute
Vas Narasimhan
Chief Executive Officer, Novartis
Ramon Laguarta
Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo
Gaurav Dhawan
Executive Chairman, Phoenix
Marco Tronchetti Provera
Executive Cive Chairman and CEO, Pirelli
Auttapol Rerkpiboon
President and Chief Executive Officer, PTT
Kongkrapan Intarajang
CEO, PTT Global Chemical
Jacques van den Broek
CEO, Randstad
Roongrote Rangsiyopash
President & CEO, SCG
Alistair Field
Group Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Sims Limited
Ilham Kadri
CEO, Solvay
Masaya Futamiya
Director-Chairman, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
Claudia Azevedo
CEO, Sonae
Annica Bresky
President and CEO, Stora Enso
Bertrand Camus
CEO, Suez
Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Bertram
CEO, Symrise
João Castello Branco
CEO, The Navigator Company
Patrick Pouyanné
CEO, Total
Alan Jope
CEO, Unilever
Eduardo Bartolomeo
CEO, Vale
Antoine Frérot
CEO, Veolia
Marcelo S. Castelli
Global CEO, Votorantim Cimentos
56
WBCSD member companies
23
headquarter countries
4.3 million
direct employees
Signatories of French call to action
Laurent Lhopitallier
Chairman, edh
Jean-Bernard Lévy
CEO, EDF
Benoît Coquart
CEO, Legrand
Florent Menegaux
CEO, Michelin
Stéphane Richard
CEO, Orange
Serge Weinberg
Chairman, Sanofi
Jean-Pascal Tricoire
CEO, Schneider Electric
Jean-Marc Chery
CEO, STMicroelectronics
Bertrand Camus
CEO, Suez
Antoine Frérot
CEO, Veolia
Xavier Huillard
CEO, Vinci
Signatories of Italian call to action
Marisa Parmigiani
President, CSR Manager Network
Fulvio Rossi
Past President, CSR Manager Network
Stefania Lallai
Director WBCSD partnership, CSR Manager Network
Renato Mazzoncini
CEO and Managing Director, A2A
Giuseppe Gola
CEO, Acea
Umberto Tosoni
CEO, ASTM
Ugo Giorcelli
General Director, Benetton Group
Chiara Nasi
Chairman & CEO, CIRFOOD
Neil Palomba
President, Costa Crociere
Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata
Chairman, Credem
Péter Ilyés
CEO, E.ON Italy
Roberta Neri
CEO, ENAV
Claudio Descalzi
CEO, Eni
Giuseppe Pasini
President, Feralpi Group
Giovanni Battista Valsecchi
General Manager, Generale Conserve
Stefano Venier
CEO, Hera
Massimiliano Bianco
CEO, Iren
Domenico Fumagalli
Senior Partner, KPMG Italy
Domenico Battagliola
CEO, La Linea Verde
Marco Tronchetti Provera
Executive Cive Chairman and CEO, Pirelli
Matteo Del Fante
CEO, Poste Italiane
Stefano Cao
CEO, Saipem
Marco Alverà
CEO, Snam
Luigi Lazzareschi
CEO, Sofidel
Stefano Antonio Donnarumma
CEO, Terna
Signatories of Japanese call to action
Masaya Futamiya
Chair of Keidaren’s Committee on Responsible Business Conduct & SDGs Promotion
Director-Chairman, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
Kazuhiko Takeuchi
President
IGES
Signatories of Brazilian and Portuguese call to action
Marina Grossi
President, CEBDS
João Wengorovius Meneses
Secretary General, BCSD
João Nuno Mendes
CEO, Águas de Portugal
Otávio Carvalheira
President, Alcoa Brasil
Paulo Fernandes
Chairman, Altri
Wilfred Bruijn
CEO, Anglo American Brasil
Pedro Penalva
CEO, Aon Portugal
José Leitão
CEO, Apcer
Elizabeth Garcia
CEO, Approach
Sandra Santos
CEO, BA
Francisco Neves
Managing Director, BSD Consulting Portugal
Paulo Moita de Macedo
Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO, Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Jorge Muñoz Cardoso
General Director, Carglass Portugal
João Bento
Executive Chairman and CEO, CTT
António Lagartixo
CEO, Deloitte Portugal
José Pedro Salema
Chairman, EDIA
Ângelo Ramalho
CEO, Efacec
Wilson Ferreira Junior
CEO, Eletrobras
Henrique Leite
General Manager, Eurest Portugal
Miguel Teixeira
CEO, Everis
Carlos Barros
General Manager, Fujitsu Portugal
Carlos Gomes da Silva
CEO, Galp
Pedro Soares dos Santos
Chairman and CEO, Jerónimo Martins
Salvador de Mello
Chairman and CEO, José de Mello Saúde
Aires Pereira
Chairman, Lipor
Vitor Domingues dos Santos
Chairman, Metropolitano de Lisboa
Miguel Maya
CEO, Millennium bcp
Gonçalo Moura Martins
CEO, Grupo Mota-Engil
Manuel Ramalho Eanes
CEO, NOS
Manuel Chinchilla
Managing Director, Philip Morris Brasil
Rodrigo Costa
CEO, REN
Hernâni Dias
Chairman, Resíduos do Nordeste
Filipe Morais Vasconcelos
Managing Partner, S317 Consulting
Marcos Matias
Country President, Schneider Electric Brasil
Otmar Hübscher
CEO, Secil
André Clark Juliano
President and CEO, Siemens Brasil
António Isidoro
Chairman, Soja de Portugal
Luís Saldanha da Gama
CEO, Solvay Portugal
Rui Lopes Ferreira
CEO, Super Bock Group
Joana Borges Coutinho
Founder & Chairwoman, Sustain Azores
Jean-Urbain Hubau
General Manager of Edenred Fleet and Mobility Solutions, Ticket Log
Mafalda Henriques
Managing Partner, The Loyal Advisory Company
Jorge Mário Silva
CEO, Tintex
João Vieira de Almeida
Managing Partner, Vieira de Almeida & Associados
Signatories of Latin American and Spanish call to action
Miguel Àngel Gutiérrez
Chairman, CEADS (Argentina)
Matías Verdugo
Chairman, Acción Empresas (Chile)
Augusto Solano
Chairman, CECODES (Colombia)
Franco Pacheco
Chairman, AED (Costa Rica)
Jorge Baigorri Lopez
Chairman, CEMDES (Ecuador)
Raúl Grijalba
Chairman, Forética (Spain)
Federico Barquero
Chairman, CentraRSE
Bruce M. Burdett
Chairman, FundahRSE (Honduras)
Ariel Granera
Chairman, UniRSE (Nicaragua)
Stanley Motta
Chairman, SumaRSE (Panamá)
Luis Torres Mariscal
Chairman, Perú2021 (Perú)
Daniel Laino
Chairman, DERES (Uruguay)
Signatories of Finnish call to action
Leena Laitinen
CEO, Alko
Veli-Matti Mattila
CEO, Elisa
Jaakko Kangasniemi
CEO, Finnfund
Pekka Lundmark
CEO, fortum
Kati Levoranta
CEO, Rovio
Annika Bresky
CEO, Stora Enso
Mika Rautianen
CEO Tokmanni
Mikko Routti
CEO, FIBS
Signatories of Ukrainian call to action
Trusha Martha Yaroslavivna
Director of Human Resources,
Auchan Retail Ukraine
Pierre Kohadon
CEO, Syngenta Ukraine
Viktor Ivanchyk
Founder and CEO, Astarta
Summary of signatories
65
WBCSD member companies or their subsidiaries
133
companies
104
corporate CEOs, and 25 Chairs
19
business networks & associations
