The study assesses the world's most influential companies on the social impact they generate in particular in three areas: human rights, decent work and ethical conduct.
After analysing the top 1000 companies out of a total of 2000 from 70 countries on five continents and accounting for a quarter of the world's Gross Domestic Product, the main conclusion is clear: the effort of the companies is in most cases low.
Among the conclusionsmost prominent it should be noted:
Only one company out of the 1000 companies assessed meets the 18 requirements defined by the WBA.
Only 1% scored more than 15 out of 20 points. Half of the companies scored disappointing (between 0 and 5 points).
Map of the 1000 companies analysed by the WBA
Human Rights and Decent Work, unfinished business
In terms of Human Rights 3 out of 4 companies 78% out of the 1,000 companies assessed obtained a score of "zero in the three human rights monitoring indicators (HRDD-Human Resources Due Diligence criteria). While 55% of companies publish a serious commitment to respect human rights, less than half of them demonstrate this through real evidence. It is one thing to state a commitment; it is another to deliver on that commitment with data and demonstrable evidence.
With regard to Decent Workonly the 4% of companies published specific targets or claimed that they were already paying workers a living wage. Only 4% of companies report having control over the number of hours worked and only 4% show that they identify pay inequalities, revealing pay differentials between men and women by employee category.
With regard to the Ethical Conduct Only 20% of companies publish a high-level approach to lobbying and 8% disclose their spending on lobbying and influence (lobbying policies). Similarly, no disclosure of their tax strategies was found for 75% of companies, while only 9% of companies disclose the amount of taxes paid by each jurisdiction in which the company is resident for tax purposes.
Corporate Social Impact Scorecards
Lack of public information of a social nature from companies
With regard to the information published by companies, the absence of meaningful information on social issues is striking. The most common score across the sample is 0 points out of 20.with 116 out of 1000 companies failing to meet any of the 18 indicators.
About the World Benchmarking Alliance
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) is an organisation not-for-profit based in the Netherlands founded in 2018 under the conviction that the contribution of the The private sector is critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. (SDGs) of the United Nations.
In order to assess the contribution of major companies to the achievement of the SDGs, the WBA's first consultation was launched in September 2017, coinciding with the 72nd UN General Assembly.
Over the past 5 years, WBA has positioned itself as an organisation that has internationally recognised; and, to date, has the support of various funding partners including governments, private foundations and other corporationsmore than 250 allied entities and a staff of 85 employees.
Whether we like it or not, our company influences and contributes positively (or negatively) to a better world. Whether we like it or not, we may be singled out to join a club that we have not chosen to join for the justified or unjustified reason that our company is considered a leader and/or exemplary for others for various reasons, based on turnover or number of employees, perhaps because of the sector in which we operate or the community we serve, our type of product or customer base or perhaps because of the important influence of our brand...
However we do it, we companies leave our mark on the world. But which ones leave a footprint for a better world? And what is or how do we define a better world?
A better world is defined by the United Nations in a perhaps simplistic but undoubtedly accurate way, as one in which economic growth is sustainable, responsible and respectful of the planet, contributing to the improvement of people's lives and leaving no one behind.
This objective is set out in the well-known 17 Sustainable Development Goals contained in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, which came into being in 2015. At that time there were 15 years left, which were long for some and short for many, and which today, 9 years down the line, are overwhelmingly short for the great challenges of humanity reflected every day in the news that reach us: from a child dying on the beaches of our coasts, men and women freezing cold on the border of Poland and Belarus, women without the right to work, girls who cannot go to school or parents with their child on their shoulders crossing rivers where they risk their lives in the hope of a better future...
Only business can lead change
Suddenly, and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, surveys show that business is perceived as the leader of change and therefore the hope for achieving these goals.
Neither governments nor NGOs have the resources to invest the 90 billion euros needed to achieve them. And let's be honest, it is not these that have the biggest impact on people and the planet. It is business.
Just as Covid arrived, in 2018 the WBA was created, a non-profit organisation inspired by the values of the United Nations. If society's hope lies in business, it is business that should become the engine of the change and transformation we need. And something had to be done. If they are the engine, where is the fuel to start it up and drive it to arrive in good shape and on time?
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA): The Race to the Top
This fuel is the WBA. The WBA is a foundation born in the Netherlands (a country par excellence pioneer and benchmark in sustainability and impact) with the support of the Dutch government and 20 global entities spread around the world willing and united around a mission: to drive the private sector's race towards the SDGs.
The ranking of the 2000 companies that lead the world
The first milestone was not an easy one: choosing the 2000 most influential companies in the world capable of contributing the most to the world's development. Millennium Development Goals, send a letter to their CEOs informing them that they were going to be part of a World Ranking that the whole world, consumers, investors, governments, ordinary citizens, would know the results through a big campaign in the media and social networks worldwide and ask for their collaboration in the process.
The second milestone, the result of an in-depth and rigorous study, was to identify the 7 indices or benchmarks, which respond to the 7 transformational elements that our system needs to be responsible and sustainable. The social transformation (human rights and gender) that affects the 2000 companies, and six other elements or transformations where companies can be rated in 1 or several, depending on the materiality of the impact generated by their business. These are: nature and biodiversity; urban or smart cities; agriculture and nutrition; energy and decarbonisation; digital inclusion and finance.
A third milestone remained, which was not going to be easier because it was the last one. Generating a roadmap that would lead the way by offering tools and support to companies to take action. The journey? Transforming and adjusting their business model to generate measurable and manageable economic, social and environmental value that contributes to one or more development objectives. In short, contributing with innovative solutions so that the generation of goods and services by companies would have a deeper meaning than just producing, selling and consuming them.
Benchmarking for a Better World
You don't choose to be a WBA company
These 2,000 companies were not asked if they wanted to be part of this ranking. So, to motivate them to collaborate and get involved, the WBA provided them with its methodologies, tools and roadmaps to achieve two goals: the 2030 Agenda and a carbon neutral economy. The incentive? To lead the top positions of the World Ranking and be perceived as the best company for a better world.
The 23 Spanish companies that lead the world
Well, of these 2000 companies, 23 are Spanish. The list is made up of Acciona, ACS, CaixaBank, Telefónica, Banco Santander, BBVA, El Corte Inglés, Mercadona, Inditex, Cepsa, Iberdrola, Nueva Pescanova, Indra, Naturgy, Ebro Foods, FCC, Ferrovial, Grupo Logística, Meliá, Renfe, Repsol, Siemens Gamesa and Urbaser.
The 23 Spanish companies in the WBA ranking
And all of a sudden, these 23 Spanish companies of different sizes, sectors and market capitalisation.... are now part of the club of companies that lead the world. And they lead the world because the WBA, today constituted as an alliance of more than 250 entities worldwide, has singled them out as the most influential, not to tell them what to do, but to accompany them along the way, offering light and being a guide on the exciting journey of achieving and contributing decisively to the Millennium Goals by creating a world that leaves no one behind.
2023: Publication date of the first World Rankings
The publication of the indices and the transformation effort of the 2000 companies will be made public in the second half of 2023. We have only months to go. Governments, suppliers, investors, employees, consumers and ordinary citizens will have the opportunity to see the World Ranking of the most sustainable companies committed to the common good.
To raise awareness of the WBA project, the Impact Forum - a benchmark event on impact in Spain led by the Foundation Ship2B - organised a session where together with Victoria Márquez-Mees, the WBA, a leading member of the WBA Board of Trustees, unveils the opportunity that the WBA represents for the 23 Spanish companies selected for the Ranking.
Our wish from Transcendent is that Spanish companies lead the first positions of the Ranking. Some companies such as Telefónica have achieved the first position in the Digital Inclusion ranking. As allies and partners of the WBA, we want the 23 Spanish companies to lead the WBA Ranking, thus demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and the SDGs and that many other companies, seeing their example, effort and success, follow their legacy.
Whether we like it or not, our company influences and contributes in a positive way to a better world... this is our purpose and our raison d'être at Transcendent. Help companies to transcend and leave their mark on the society they serve and why not? To lead the World Ranking of the companies most committed to people and the planet.
The World Benchmarking Alliancea panel dedicated to the 2000 most influential companies for a better world, 23 of which are Spanish, has closed the Impact Forum of this year
Victoria Márquez-Mees, member of the WBA Board of Trustees and board member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBDR), and María Herrero, partner at Transcendenthave closed the Impact Forum 2021 which, as every year, organises Ship2BOnce again this year it was one of the benchmark events of the Impact Economy.
For the closing session of the event, both directors focused their speeches on the role of business in the Impact Economicsthrough the rankings compiled by the World Benchmarking Alliance of the United Nations (WBA).
These rankings include 7 drivers, from the social driver (in which all companies participate) to other more specific sectoral drivers such as Nature, Financial System, Agriculture and Food, Digital Inclusion, Energy and Climate and Urban.
These rankings include the 2000 companies that have been considered, according to Márquez-Mees, the most influential in their respective sectors around the world "either for their sales, or for their production chain, or for their footprint in a developing country, or for their impact on the supply chain...".
The 23 Spanish companies included in the Ranking
Of these 2000 companies that have been chosen in their different sectors, 23 are Spanish and the publication of the indices and the transformation efforts of these 2000 companies will be made public in 2023.
With less than ten years to go before we all reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)The question is, what role do companies want to play? Because business has become the engine of change and sustainability indices, including the WBA, are a lever to drive this transformation.
In 2023 the World Benchmarking Alliance make public the data of these 2000 companies, so that governments, suppliers, investors, employees, consumers and citizens can have access to the World Ranking of the most sustainable companies committed to the common good.
"Our wish is for Spanish companies to lead the ranking".said María Herrero who, together with Victoria Márquez-Mees, agreed on a call to action so that these 23 large Spanish companies accelerate to be at the forefront of this unprecedented race, but which will mark a before and after in the business model of leadership.
Transcendent joins the Word Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) partner club
Transcendent, the Spanish consulting firm specialising in Corporate Social Impact, has become a reference partner of the WBA (World Benchmarking Alliance) in our country. This international organisation based in the Netherlands works to create an ecosystem that encourages and accelerates the efforts of companies to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations in 2015.
The World Benchmarking Alliance, created among others by the United Nations Foundation, has more than 150 members including private companies, international and civil society organisations such as UNICEF, ABN-Amro, Oxfam, Thompson Reuters, Aviva, ING, WWF and Cambridge University among others. It should be noted that WBA is supported by the Dutch, British and German governments.
Climate change, human rights, digital inclusion, gender equality, social transformation and sustainable agriculture are at the core of the WBA's activities, which it analyses globally and systematically in order to promote the implementation of all types of measures that enable progress to be made towards achieving the SDGs set by the United Nations.
"We are delighted to welcome Transcendent to our club and look forward to collaborating with them in our mission to create a movement that encourages business impact - particularly with the 21 Spanish companies that make up SDG2000 - by working towards a sustainable future for all.said Paulina Murphy, Engagement Director of the World Benchmarking Alliance.
In this sense, the inclusion of Transcendent in this alliance represents for the Spanish consultancy firm a boost to its management and its focus of action, which revolves around accelerating corporate social impact by helping Spanish companies to incorporate both social and environmental impact at the heart of their activity.
"At Transcendent we work every day to put social and environmental impact at the heart of our clients' business. Joining the WBA is a natural step for us, as we want to help shape the private sector in a way that moves companies towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, just as the WBA has been doing so far. We believe that measurement and analysis are key to driving business impact and the WBA is ahead of the curve in the race to make this a reality, explained Angel Pérez Agenjo, founder and Leading Partner of Transcendent.
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