ABN AMRO will use the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, the world’s first comprehensive guidance for companies to report on how they respect human rights. The UNGP Reporting Framework, which is aligned to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, was developed by the Human Rights Reporting and Assurance Frameworks Initiative (RAFI), a joint initiative of Shift and Mazars. RAFI is a global initiative to promote transparency about how companies meet their responsibility to respect human rights.

Caroline Princen, Managing Board member at ABN AMRO responsible for spearheading this initiative, said: ‘At ABN AMRO, we would like to contribute to a better world. Over the years, we have implemented and embraced various initiatives to help us achieve this goal. Reporting on our efforts to respect human rights, for which we actively engage with our clients and other stakeholders, is an important next step in this regard’.

The UNGP Reporting Framework was developed through a two-year, global, multi-stakeholder consultation process. Six companies from six sectors have already committed to using the Reporting Framework in 2015, including Unilever – the first adopter – as well as ABN AMRO, Ericsson, H&M, Nestlé and Newmont.

Implementing the UNGP Reporting Framework will be done in close collaboration with Shift, the leading centre of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles. Caroline Rees, President of Shift said: “ABN AMRO will be leading the way in showing financial institutions how the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework can help banks provide meaningful reporting to all stakeholders, while also bolstering internal processes for ensuring respect for human rights across their business. In addition, the new European Union non-financial reporting Directive means that banks of any significant size need to report on their human rights policies, outcomes, risk and risk management beginning next year, and the UNGP Reporting Framework will help ABN AMRO and other banks comply with the Directive.”

As designated by the UNGP Reporting Framework, ABN AMRO will focus on its ‘salient human rights issues’: those human rights at risk of the most severe negative impact through the company’s activities and business relationships. These salient human rights issues will become the focus for reporting based on human rights due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles.