HACE

Bloomberg yesterday covered our work on child labour, and how climate change is acting as a ‘threat multiplier’ of this social sustainability issue that affects 160 million children globally. There are common misconceptions around child labour and modern slavery, emphasising the importance of distinguishing between the two, to ensure that child labour risks are not inadvertently overlooked. The distinction between child labour and forced labour is significant and often misunderstood. leading to the oversight of the former when efforts are concentrated on the latter. HACE’s Engagement Toolkit incorporates commodity- and country-specific engagement guidance from Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other strategic alliances. This will boost investors’ understanding of best practice on outcomes and impact around child labour, whilst connecting smaller organisations’ subject-matter expertise to the investment community. https://lnkd.in/enkCx7y9 Bloomberg News #childlabor #childlabour #intersectionality #esginvesting #sustainableinvestment #esg #climate #climatechange

✨HACE FEATURED ON THE 2024 #ESGFinTech100 LIST ✨ We are proud to announce that FinTech Global recognised HACE on the 2024 #ESGFinTech100 list earlier this week. This annual list features 100 of the world’s most innovative ESG tech companies, selected by a panel of industry experts and analysts. It’s an honour to be recognised among so many other impactful companies supporting financial institutions. HACE’s vision is to drive impactful change through collaborative ownership, empowering investors and companies to eliminate Child Labour. We develop comprehensive risk management tools and insights to identify, assess, and mitigate Child Labour risks. The urgency for sustainability among financial institutions has reached new heights over the past year, with regulations like the EU’s CSRD pushing firms to enhance their ESG-related compliance. Not only are governments emphasising ESG regulations, but consumers are increasingly aligning with companies that reflect their values. As ESG is at the forefront, commitment to driving sustainable practices is stronger than ever. You can find the full list of companies featured here: https://lnkd.in/eUcpbKpR #ESG #FinTech #Sustainability #CSRD #ESGFinTech100 #Innovation 

Public Safety Canada | Sécurité publique Canada Annual Report on the Fighting against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act offers extensive insight into how entities and government institutions are monitoring and remediating Child Labour in their supply chains and own business operations. We have identified further analyses below that highlight some key takeaways. Failure to recognise Child Labour as a stand-alone Human Rights risk creates the possibility that a significant area of Human Rights is overlooked. There is a common misconception that all Human Rights risks are Forced Labour in nature, or are covered by Modern Slavery legislation. Providing legislation that is Child Labour-specific highlights the importance of distinguishing between the two, to ensure that Child Labour risks are not misunderstood or overlooked.   ➡ Zero entities reported having no identified risk of Child Labour within their supply chains, yet only 44.4% of entities indicated they provided training to their employees on Forced and/or Child Labour. ➡ Within the 708 entities who indicated that remediation of Child Labour incidences were applicable to them, 55.4% indicated that they hadn't taken any remediation measures. Employee training and sustainable, child-led remediation measures are essential in reducing Child Labour in supply chains. Training specific to Child Labour provides employees with the knowledge to identify and address the unique risks, while effective remediation measures ensure that potential issues are identified with transparency. As a result, this allows entities to be more responsible and have a people-first approach. These measures reflect the importance of due diligence and transparency in entities' supply chains to prevent Forced and Child Labour. Explore the Annual Report further to understand Canada’s progress in combating Forced and Child Labour here: https://lnkd.in/epQs-yuz #BizHumanRights #ESG ##ChildLabour #ChildLabor #Data #ChildRights #HumanRights #SupplyChains #ResponsibleInvestment #ESGReporting 

Public Safety Canada's 2024 Annual Report: what happened in the first year of the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act? 🔔 Public Safety Canada | Sécurité publique Canada recently released the 2024 Annual Report analysing the submissions for Canada’s Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which requires companies and institutions to report annually on the measures they’ve taken to prevent Forced and Child Labour. The findings revealed critical insights that highlighted the high-risk areas related to the procurement of electronics, property management services, food industry services, and textiles. They also draw attention to the significance of conducting risk assessments and implementing due diligence policies to prevent and reduce Forced and Child Labour risks. The Forced and Child Labour risks that were most commonly reported by entities were identified in the supply chain tiers with raw materials or commodities. With 70% of Child Labour in agriculture, Child Labour risks are often latent upstream in supply chains. Growing scrutiny, through legislation such as the Canadian Act, will serve to shine an increasing spotlight on issues. The Act is not only a legislative requirement, but a crucial step in providing a broader understanding of Child Labour as a unique business and investment risk. It’s vital for companies and investors to continually carry out Child Labour-specific due diligence across supply chains in order to set a higher standard for responsible, human-centred business. Explore the full report to understand Canada’s progress and next steps in combating these urgent issues here: https://lnkd.in/epQs-yuz #BizHumanRights #ESG ##ChildLabour #ChildLabor #Data #ChildRights #HumanRights #SupplyChains #ResponsibleInvestment #ESGReporting

Last week, we attended Kumi Consulting Ltd’s “Collaborative Partnerships to Tackle Child Labour in Supply Chains” event, along with a variety of stakeholders from the investment, charity and corporate sectors. It was inspiring to be in a room full of organisations and individuals working on the specific, prevalent issue of Child Labour, as a standalone area of human rights alongside Forced Labour and Modern Slavery. We particularly resonated with Congo Children Trust’s words on the daily experiences faced by children in the artisanal mining industries. These words brought to life HACE’s focus on the interconnectivity between Child Labour and the increase in demand for critical minerals, often mined artisanally, that are essential for the Energy Transition. Many thanks to Kumi for hosting and Stewart Investors for sponsoring 🌎 Will Oulton Isabelle Bryan Jean-Baptiste Collovray #ChildLabour #ChildLabor #Data #ChildRights #BizHumanRights #HumanRights #EnergyTransition #JustTransition

Yesterday, we attended Bureau of International Labor Affairs’ announcement of updates to the goods produced by Child Labour or Forced Labour, the industries where children are exploited and how governments and the private sector can combat these abuses. With new Goods and Countries being added, the updated list is a significant step towards understanding the full scale of Child Labour as a growing and complex social issue. At HACE, we believe these additions mean that we are about to experience a material change in the profile of this business and investment risk. We would like to thank the US Department of Labor, ILAB, Sweat & Toil and Better Trade Tool teams for their fantastic work to continue bringing this issue into the spotlight. We also want to thank Marcia Eugenio for her incredible contribution to the field over the last 23 versions of these reports, as she retires to leave behind a legacy of passion and integrity. Read the update and the reports here: https://lnkd.in/diWZ8Y3X Roberta Mather Claudia Giudi Shelley Stinelli #ChildLabour #ChildLabor #Data #ChildRights #BizHumanRights #HumanRights #CorporateAccountability #EndChildLabor #EndForcedLabor #WorkersRights

After a conference hiatus over summer, it was great to attend UNICEF's "Children's Lives: International Conference on Children and their Families, using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys" this week. Among a growing Child Labour regulatory landscape for companies and investors, it’s always insightful and encouraging to see the breadth and depth of new research being carried out in this area. Particularly interesting was a talk on the differences and similarities between income-generating and care and domestic work by Elena Camilletti, Franziska Gassmann, Wim Groot, and Bruno Martorano, who highlighted the importance of accurately defining and differentiating children’s domestic work and Child Labour. Definitions within the field of Child Labour and Human Rights are vital; the distinction between Child Labour and Forced Labour is significant and often misunderstood, leading to the oversight of the former when efforts are concentrated on the latter. The event was organized by the UNICEF MICS Programme and the #BristolPovertyInstitute at the University of Bristol. https://lnkd.in/emZnFVjN #ChildLabour #ChildLabor #Data #ChildRights #BizHumanRights #HumanRights #Technology #StartUps #AI #Innovation #SupplyChains #ResponsibleInvestment #UNICEF #ChildRights #UNICEFMICS #UniversityofBristol

Today marks this year's World Day Against Child Labour: "Let's Act on Our Commitments: End Child Labour". Marking this year's World Day Against Child Labour, HACE have undertaken analysis on Child Labour prevalence in commodities key to the Energy Transition, echoing key themes seen at Bureau of International Labor Affairs event last week in Washington D.C. HACE analysis highlights that 73% of the country-commodity combinations were specific to Child Labour, with no Forced Labour reported. The distinction between Child Labour and Forced Labour is significant and often misunderstood, leading to the oversight of the former when efforts are concentrated on the latter. HACE’s investigation into 458 country-commodity combinations sheds light on the distinct nature of child labour risks. 72.7% of these combinations present risks exclusively related to child labour, without any overlap with forced labour. This finding emphasises the breadth of child labour risks that may be neglected if monitoring is geared towards forced labour. Only 17.4% of country-commodity combinations had both child labour and forced labour reported. Child Labour is still widely prevalent across global supply chains, with 160 million children in Child Labour, 79 million of whom are working in precarious working conditions and 89 million of whom are under the age of 12 years old. Increasing due diligence directives, tariff acts and transparency regulations; are now forcing both companies and investors to disclose information specifically on Child Labour, as a standalone risk aside from Modern Slavery or Forced Labour. Negative public sentiment around Child Labour, combined with possible regulatory or legislative consequences, mean that poor supply chain management and the continued use of Child Labour will quite simply be bad for business. The associated brand damage could lead to customer losses, supply chain disruption and a negative impact on both share price and cost of capital. It is in the interests of institutional investors, alongside public regulators, to pressure companies into more careful and equitable supply chain management. Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 calls an end to Child Labour in all its forms by 2025, a goal that UNICEF Deutschland states 'can no longer be achieved', unless key stakeholders in both the public and private sector address Child Labour as a growing and standalone risk within global supply chains. #ChildLabour #ChildLabor #WDACL2024 #EnergyTransition #JustTransition #Data #ChildRights #BizHumanRights #HumanRights #SupplyChains #ResponsibleInvestment #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour Eleanor Harry Elizabeth Burroughs Chris Turpin Paul Innella

Tomorrow, 12th June, marks the World Day Against Child Labour 2024. This year’s World Day will focus on celebrating the 25th anniversary of the adoption of ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999), which, in 2020, was the first ILO Convention to be universally ratified. There has been increasing investor engagement on critical sustainability issues within supply chains, such as climate change and biodiversity. As supply chains come under more scrutiny due increased demand for commodities critical to the energy transition, a spotlight is being shone on systematic and precarious Child Labour issues within these commodities. As customer demand increases for environmentally sustainable energy products, these supply chains are under further pressure, exacerbating existing Child Labour issues. Growing consumer desire to tackle climate change means companies, manufacturers, and suppliers are applying pressure in their supply chain, to drive down production time and costs in order to make the market accessible for the average customer. However, this is likely to increase a supply chain's exposure to Child Labour, through decreasing the quality of working conditions for vulnerable workers, as well as pushing more children into Child Labour and precarious working conditions. HACE will be publishing our 2-page brief: "Sustainable Energy, Unsustainable Practices: Child Labour in the Energy Transition" tomorrow, to mark this momentous day. #ChildLabour #ChildLabor #WDACL2024 #EnergyTransition #JustTransition #Data #ChildRights #BizHumanRights #HumanRights #SupplyChains #ResponsibleInvestment https://lnkd.in/gi5BkZij

Thank you to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs for inviting me to speak on this year's World Day Against Child Labor Panel on the intersectionality between Child Labour and Climate Change, and the role the investment sector can play in addressing these issues simultaneously through direct and collaborative engagement. A special thanks to the broader ILAB team for meeting with me and Chris Turpin ASIP CAIA to discuss the importance of recognising Child Labour in supply chains as a material investment and social risk, driving active engagement with companies for more responsible management of their supply chains. It was fantastic to also celebrate Marcia Eugenio's incredible career, work and dedication to eradicating Child Labor globally. Watch the recorded event here 🎥: https://lnkd.in/gX9xeM8e #childlabor #childlabour