Investment manager CCLA has launched an initiative to use shareholder power to encourage companies to tackle the scourge of modern slavery.
CCLA has joined with investor organisation Principles for Responsible Investment to create a group of investors, non-governmental organisations and academics dedicated to tackling the problem.
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The initiative, called Find It, Fix It, Prevent It, will use the power of investors to encourage businesses to find victims of slavery of within their supply chain and support their rehabilitation.
CCLA chief executive Peter Hugh Smith said: “We work with 35,000 not-for profit organisations and so we have a licence to speak out and say that this is wrong.
“Quite simply, this is a moral case – as ‘good investors’, we don’t want to profit from slavery. Instead, we want to praise companies for finding it in their supply chains as we know that it is there.”
CCLA says the group will aim to engage with companies in members’ portfolios to develop better policies, processes and procedures for identifying and addressing modern slavery in their supply chains.
It will also promote public policy to incentivise companies to report on the effectiveness of their actions to “find and then fix” slavery.
It will also contribute to knowledge resources to help companies fight the crime.
A statement from CCLA said that despite the UK Modern Slavery Act coming into force in 2015, few companies have made significant progress on tackling the issue.
James Corah, head of ethical & responsible investment at CCLA said: “We believe that slavery exists somewhere in the supply chain of nearly every company.
“Good companies are those that find, and then support, victims of slavery. Sadly, there are not yet enough of them and we, as an industry, have to do everything we can to encourage better action.”
The initiative will be overseen by an advisory committee, chaired by Hugh Smith, and featuring representation from organisations including the Principles for Responsible Investment, the Investment Association, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and the University of Nottingham’s Rights Lab.
Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: “Modern slavery has no place in society and creates untold, unnecessary human suffering.
“The investment management industry has the power to shine a light on companies and improve their practises. “As investors, we want to invest in well run companies and we welcome this new initiative, which aims to stamp out slavery and support its victims.”
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