Building a thriving global workforce – A panel conversation with Stora Enso, Mars and WBCSD

On 19 June 2019, WBCSD’s Filippo Veglio joined Bloomberg’s Sustainable Business Summit in London to moderate a panel zooming in on policies and processes developed by multinational companies to ensure respect for human rights for their global workforce.

Marika McCauley Sine, Vice President, Sustainability at Mars and Ylva Stiller, Human Rights Director at Stora Enso shared their insights on the role that business can play in reducing inequalities and how they are working to improve the quality of life of employees and their communities worldwide.

Takeaways:

• The panel discussion highlighted tangible steps being taken within Mars and Stora Enso to understand and address human rights issues in their operations and supply chains.
• It emphasized the importance of leadership from top management, demystifying human rights to make it relevant throughout the organization, and building meaningful collaborations at global and local levels.
• Lastly, the panel also highlighted the launch of WBCSD’s CEO Guide to Human Rights, which brings to life the business drivers for action and the tangible steps CEOs can take to ensure their companies go beyond compliance and drive transformative change in people’s lives. 35 top executives across the WBCSD membership signed a call to action with clear messages to raise the bar on human rights performance, embed human rights in corporate culture, set clear expectations of suppliers and business partners and drive meaningful engagement and collaborations with peers, governments as well as civil society.