2.4 Assessing relationship to impact
Does the bank have a process for assessing whether it has caused or contributed to an adverse impact?
About the data
The BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark is an independent assessment of the world’s largest commercial banks, measuring how they respect human rights in their policies, practices, and business relationships. Built on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the benchmark evaluates banks across key themes, including policy commitments, due diligence, remedy, and specific issues such as the protection of human rights defenders, free, prior, and informed consent, and environmental rights.
Why this metric is important: Under Principle 13 of the UN Guiding Principles, a business’ relationship to a human rights impact – whether causing or contributing to it through its own activity, or being directly linked via its business relationships – determines whether it has a responsibility to participate in remedy. As made clear by UN and other authoritative advice, banks, in certain cases, may contribute to adverse human rights impacts through their financing. To understand how best to address impacts, and if they have a responsibility to remedy, banks must have a systematic process in place to assess their relationships to an impact.
Why this metric is important: Under Principle 13 of the UN Guiding Principles, a business’ relationship to a human rights impact – whether causing or contributing to it through its own activity, or being directly linked via its business relationships – determines whether it has a responsibility to participate in remedy. As made clear by UN and other authoritative advice, banks, in certain cases, may contribute to adverse human rights impacts through their financing. To understand how best to address impacts, and if they have a responsibility to remedy, banks must have a systematic process in place to assess their relationships to an impact.
Methodology
Requirements for full and half score:
Full score: The bank has a process in place for assessing whether it has caused or contributed to an adverse impact, and details the process, including decision-making criteria and lines of responsibility. This process is applicable across the bankʼs entire business operations, including impacts linked to the bankʼs finance.
Half score: For example, the bank indicates that it assesses whether it has caused or contributed to an adverse impact as part of its human rights due diligence, without detailing the process.
Full methodology can be found in the report.
Full score: The bank has a process in place for assessing whether it has caused or contributed to an adverse impact, and details the process, including decision-making criteria and lines of responsibility. This process is applicable across the bankʼs entire business operations, including impacts linked to the bankʼs finance.
Half score: For example, the bank indicates that it assesses whether it has caused or contributed to an adverse impact as part of its human rights due diligence, without detailing the process.
Full methodology can be found in the report.
License
Topics
Framework Mappings
Value Type
Category
Options
Yes
Partially
No
Assessment
Steward Assessed