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Richard Howitt

Richard Howitt

Richard Howitt is a strategic adviser on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Business and Human Rights. He is also a Board member, lecturer at Audencia Business School and host of the Frank Bold ‘Frankly Speaking’ responsible business podcast. Richard was Member of the European Parliament responsible for the EU’s first rules on corporate sustainability reporting and subsequently Chief Executive Officer of the International Integrated Reporting Council.

Richard Howitt is tagged in 20 assets.
Article
Finance & InvestmentOrganizational Governance
What ESG Backlash? Investors Staying the Course on Sustainability, Human Rights
What ESG Backlash? Investors Staying the Course on Sustainability, Human Rights
Published on December 3, 2024
About a 7 minute read

Day three of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2024 saw investors unmoved by the backlash against ESG investment — instead, redoubling efforts to understand risks and opportunities through better data and deeper engagement with stakeholders... View More

Article
Organizational GovernanceSupply Chain
Meaningful Supplier Partnerships Are Critical in Era of Human Rights Due Diligence
Meaningful Supplier Partnerships Are Critical in Era of Human Rights Due Diligence
Published on November 29, 2024
About a 5 minute read

Key takeaways from day two of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2024 included viewing impacted communities as ‘rights-holders’ — not stakeholders — to help bridge the power imbalance between larger, Global North companies and their Gl... View More

Article
Supply ChainOrganizational Governance
Voluntary vs Mandatory Human Rights Action: Is There a 'Smart Mix'?
Voluntary vs Mandatory Human Rights Action: Is There a 'Smart Mix'?
Published on November 26, 2024
About a 4 minute read

Day one of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2024 debated the validity of a ‘smart mix’ of both voluntary and regulatory action on business and human rights, when companies cannot succeed alone in combatting systemic problems. ... View More

Article
Marketing & Communications
Information Is Power, But Who Decides How Much We (or They) Have a Right to Know?
Information Is Power, But Who Decides How Much We (or They) Have a Right to Know?
Published on November 29, 2023
About a 6 minute read

Among themes addressed on day 3 of this year’s UN Forum on Business and Human Rights: When do tracking of personal data and combating disinformation reach a level which breaches freedom of expression or thought? ... View More

Article
Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability
From Historic Foundations to Today’s Debates on Artificial Intelligence
From Historic Foundations to Today’s Debates on Artificial Intelligence
Published on November 28, 2023
About a 5 minute read

Fears about the uncontrolled growth of artificial intelligence have exploded into public debate this year. Day 2 of the UN Business and Human Rights Forum examined the challenges through a human-rights lens. ... View More

Article
Supply Chain
There Is No Alternative to Direct Relationships in Company Supply Chains
There Is No Alternative to Direct Relationships in Company Supply Chains
Published on November 27, 2023
About a 6 minute read

On day one of this year’s UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, delegates agreed that close engagement with all tiers of company supply chains will be vital going forward. ... View More

Article
Marketing & CommunicationsRegulation & Public Policy
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 3: Responsible Lobbying vs ‘Corporate Capture’
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 3: Responsible Lobbying vs ‘Corporate Capture’
Published on December 1, 2022
About a 6 minute read

For most readers, bribery or corruption aren’t part of your everyday experience — though they should be part of due diligence processes on your business partners and supply chain. However, the danger that one department says one thing and another... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 2: A Compass for ‘Big Tech'
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 2: A Compass for ‘Big Tech'
Published on November 30, 2022
About a 5 minute read

This is the second of three daily updates from the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022. Day two proposed redefining tech companies as part of infrastructure — similar to railways and supply chains — that govern people’s lives, and a new ... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022, Day 1: Holding Business to Account
The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022, Day 1: Holding Business to Account
Published on November 29, 2022
About a 4 minute read

This is the first of three daily updates from the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2022. Day one started a week that focuses not on holding individual companies to account, but where the systems that will enable this are being framed. ... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
Attention, Business Leaders: Environmental Rights, Human Rights Inextricably Linked
Attention, Business Leaders: Environmental Rights, Human Rights Inextricably Linked
Published on December 1, 2021
About a 4 minute read

Perhaps the takeaway of the week is that the ‘next 10 years’ of business and human rights coincide with the 2030 deadline for us to halve carbon emissions — and that environmental rights are now very clearly seen as human rights. Companies purs... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
2021 a ‘Landmark’ for Corporate Human Rights Litigation
2021 a ‘Landmark’ for Corporate Human Rights Litigation
Published on November 30, 2021
About a 5 minute read

On day two of the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, delegates discussed how environmental damage is being viewed as a human rights violation in a growing number of court cases around the world — and that the UN Guiding Principles may increasin... View More

Article
Supply ChainOrganizational Governance
Where Is the New Roadmap for Business and Human Rights Taking Us?
Where Is the New Roadmap for Business and Human Rights Taking Us?
Published on November 29, 2021
About a 6 minute read

As delegates from the UN launched the roadmap at day one of this year's Business and Human Rights Forum, full respect for human rights by business was described as a strategic — not just an operational — issue, requiring a change of corporate cul... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
UN Business and Human Rights Forum, Day 3: Business Must Approach DEI Issues Through a Human Rights Lens
UN Business and Human Rights Forum, Day 3: Business Must Approach DEI Issues Through a Human Rights Lens
Published on November 18, 2020
About a 5 minute read

The irony at this Forum is that so much of the conversation is about abuses in company supply chains, often far outside company walls. However, race discrimination is also close to home — taking place every day within the companies themselves.  ... View More

Article
Supply ChainCollaboration & Co-CreationOrganizational Governance
UN Business and Human Rights Forum, Day 2: What’s New in Mandatory Human Rights ’Due Diligence’ Law?
UN Business and Human Rights Forum, Day 2: What’s New in Mandatory Human Rights ’Due Diligence’ Law?
Published on November 17, 2020
About a 6 minute read

Companies are obliged to monitor and manage environmental and human rights standards in their supply chains. This week saw major steps forward in support for enforcing human rights due diligence by law, as well as major debates in shaping the new law... View More

Article
Supply ChainCollaboration & Co-CreationOrganizational Governance
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 1: ‘The Most Vulnerable Are Always in Your Supply Chain’
UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Day 1: ‘The Most Vulnerable Are Always in Your Supply Chain’
Published on November 16, 2020
About a 4 minute read

What links the two major themes to emerge from the day — COVID and climate — is the need for companies to take steps to assist vulnerable people in supply chains, and to ensure their needs are always taken into account. ... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
How Business Can Avoid Fuelling Conflict and Work to Build Peace
How Business Can Avoid Fuelling Conflict and Work to Build Peace
Published on December 2, 2019
About a 4 minute read

On the third and final day at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, it was clear all businesses are being asked to address a fourth ‘p’ — peace. As well as helping to prevent conflict, companies are increasingly taking responsibility for ... View More

Article
Organizational Governance
Anti-Corruption, Respect for Human Rights Are Part of One Holistic Business Challenge
Anti-Corruption, Respect for Human Rights Are Part of One Holistic Business Challenge
Published on November 27, 2019
About a 4 minute read

What Legal Counsels and Chief Compliance Officers have to learn from sustainability and human rights experts is that this can never be a question of compliance alone. ... View More

Article
Supply Chain
How Can Sustainability Professionals Uphold Mandatory Rules on Human Rights?
How Can Sustainability Professionals Uphold Mandatory Rules on Human Rights?
Published on November 26, 2019
About a 4 minute read

While we’ve seen steady if uncertain progress on human rights — and more from business than from governments — there are dangers if the message heard by business is one of complacency. ... View More

Article
Collaboration & Co-CreationCollaboration & Co-Creation
Global Leaders Convene to Identify Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Address the SDGs
Global Leaders Convene to Identify Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Address the SDGs
Published on January 18, 2018
About a 4 minute read

Sustainability is at risk. And whilst the risks that go beyond climate change may be less well-understood, they are just as pressing. That was the message at the first meeting of the European Union’s Multi-Stakeholder Platform on the Sustainable De... View More

Article
New Metrics
Richard Howitt on a Sustainability-Inclusive IIRC: I'm Up for the Challenge!
Richard Howitt on a Sustainability-Inclusive IIRC: I'm Up for the Challenge!
Published on February 15, 2017
About a 5 minute read

This post is a response to a challenge posed earlier this year to new IIRC Chief Executive Richard Howitt by Dr. Mark W. McElroy and Martin P. Thomas, co-authors of The Multicapital Scorecard (2016). The goal to make Integrated Reporting the global n... View More

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