Point Advisory is pleased to announce that we are expanding our service offerings in 2019 to include a new business line – human rights.
Time to get started on ‘Business and human rights’
With the enactment of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act in late 2018, companies with annual revenue over $100 million will need to make annual public reports (Modern Slavery Statements) on their actions to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. The below diagram summarises the requirements that commence in financials years commencing in 2019.
What is modern slavery?
Modern slavery relates to a range of significant human rights breaches typically on people in vulnerable situations and includes human trafficking, slavery, child labour, debt-bondage, forced labour and personal servitude. It can occur within an organisation’s operations and supply chain.
Point Advisory can support your organisation in meeting the requirements of the new Act and enhance your approach to respecting and advancing human rights. Our team has practical experience in implementing responsible sourcing practices, meeting the requirements of modern slavery legislation globally, developing human right policies, and benchmarking human rights performance.
For further information on our human rights services visit our website or contact Alan Dayeh
Climate change and human rights: Our integrated sustainability approach
The Human Rights Council has stressed that it is critical to apply a human rights-based approach to guide policies and measures designed to address climate change. To support this, our climate change and human rights specialists work together to incorporate a rights-based approach to ensure that climate change strategies, risk management, mitigation and adaptation programs do not detract from the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. This includes considering risks of creating unintended inequalities, vulnerabilities, or discriminatory practices as a result of our clients’ climate change responses. Climate risk and the recommendations of the G20’s Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (‘TCFD’) are increasingly becoming a topic for discussion for Boards and investors.
Showcase – Climate Risk
As ASIC said towards the end of 2018, “Climate change is a foreseeable risk facing many listed companies in the Australian market in a range of different industries. Directors and officers of listed companies need to understand and continually reassess existing and emerging risks (including climate risk) that may affect the company’s business.”[1]
Point Advisory has developed a suite of services that brings together our team’s capabilities in risk management, economic modelling, scenario analysis, carbon management, target setting, adaptation planning and corporate reporting to offer end-to-end support as organisations look to understand and manage their climate-related risks and opportunities in line with the TCFD recommendations.
We are pleased to have supported several clients in their climate risk journeys recently, including the delivery of a climate-related physical risk assessment for a large multi-site industrial client, a TCFD disclosure gap analysis and initial climate risk assessment for Incitec Pivot Limited, and the development of Westernport Water’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan, amongst others.
For further information on our climate risk services visit our website or contact a member of our team – Christophe Brulliard and Marisa Sanchez Urrea
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[1] Australian Securities and Investments Commission, September 2018, Report 593: Climate risk disclosure by Australia’s listed companies.