Imagine the impact of investing in companies working to end forced labor and human trafficking. OpenInvest, a startup providing the world’s first Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) platform for retail investors, is proud to launch this very investment category in partnership with JUST Capital, a nonprofit empowering consumers, workers, business leaders, and investors to make more informed decisions about where to buy, work and invest. Utilizing JUST Capital’s data and analysis, these two organizations have identified 20 publicly traded companies demonstrating high commitments to fighting forced labour in their supply chains.
It is estimated that 21 million people globally are affected by human trafficking, with a quarter of all victims falling under the age of 18. This illegal labor practice profits more than $150 billion per year. As a response to this major world issue, the Human Rights in the Supply Chain category was created on July 30 in recognition of the United Nations’ World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
“The goods and services produced by forced labor often end up in the global supply chains that stock Americans’ shelves,” said Joshua Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer, OpenInvest. “We launched the Human Rights in the Supply Chain Screen as a new cause-driven issue on our platform because individual investors own nearly 80 percent of US equities markets and are instrumental in holding companies accountable for either helping or harming the fight against forced labor.”
Recently reported in the LA Times, major retailers that everyday American’s are buying from, such as Wal-Mart, Costco and even Whole Foods, are carrying products that have forced labor practices within their supply chain. After evaluating 900 companies, analysing everything from their supply chain standards, to their internal governing practices and corporate policies, 20 leaders have been identified, including General Mills, Nike and Apple, to represent the top 2 percent of the 900 performers in bringing a stop to forced labor and human trafficking.
Learn more about this fantastic investment initiative, and the other 17 identified companies by visiting openinvest.co.
