Our client, a global financial markets infrastructure and data provider, approached Sancroft to strengthen their approach to human rights risk management and align with evolving regulation over the next three years.
Sancroft first partnered with the company to complete a human rights salience assessment, to identify and prioritise key human rights risks in 2024. To establish themselves as leaders in sustainability and be properly equipped to manage human rights risks in the long term, they continued their partnership with us, to develop a multi-year action plan. The plan needed to embed human rights into business decisions, align with regulations, best practices, and team commitments, and track progress centrally.
To support internal prioritisation of human rights risk management, we began by articulating the purpose and ambition of the work, focusing on pragmatism and cross-functionality. We conducted exploratory interviews with key business functions to assess existing risk controls, complemented by a light-touch review of documents not provided in phase one.
These insights shaped a targeted, realistic human rights action plan that suited available internal resources and capacity. Importantly, this approach ensured the actions were achievable in the agreed timeframe and aligned to regulatory timelines including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Building on the company’s existing foundations, the plan embedded clear responsibilities across the business, consolidated previous initiatives and action plans and provided practical guidance with structured timelines. Timelines and tasks were agreed through workshops with the client to ensure feasibility of the plan. Recommended steps were aligned with best practice, including the UN Guiding Principles, to strengthen or introduce processes and ensure ownership across the organisation.
