Our Responsible Investment overlays
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Focus theme: Human Rights
Example case of a human rights engagement: Starbucks
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Background: Starbucks is one of the companies that have been assessed by the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) since 2017, scoring low on human rights due diligence in particular. We have engaged with the company on human rights and transparency already for a number of years. Engagement: At the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Starbucks, we voted against the chair of the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee due to the lack of progress and transparency on how Starbucks addresses human rights. Ahead of the company’s AGM in 2021, we wrote to the board of directors, informing them that based on their 2020 CHRB assessment results and continued low scores – as well as their limited disclosure – we were again considering to vote against the chair of their Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee. Outcome: In response, the company informed us that Starbucks has published a new Global Human Rights policy which is applicable to all their partners, extending the expectations to comply with the policy to their suppliers throughout the supply chain. We also had a meeting ahead of the AGM, where we received more relevant information, leading us to the decision to not cast an against vote. We continue our dialogue, pushing for better human rights performance and disclo- sure. Following the CHRBs decision to assess companies every two years instead of annually, CHRB’s next ranking will be published in the fall of 2022. We expect to see improved scores for Starbucks, particularly on human rights due diligence.
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