Social sustainability is about identifying and managing business impacts, both positive and negative, on people. The quality of a company’s relationships and engagement with its stakeholders is critical. Directly or indirectly, companies affect what happens to employees, workers in the value chain, customers and local communities, and it is important to proactively manage impacts. 

Businesses’ social license to operate depends greatly on their social sustainability efforts. Actions to advance social sustainability can unlock new markets, strengthen value chains and attract long-term investors. They differentiate companies from competitors and spur innovation through new products, services or business models. Businesses that lead on social sustainability are better positioned to secure partnerships, win contracts and build trust with increasingly values-driven consumers. Internally, employee morale and engagement rise, boosting productivity and retention, while externally, stronger risk management reduces exposure to reputational, regulatory and community risks. In short, advancing social sustainability is not only the right thing to do—it is a catalyst for growth, resilience and innovation.

The first six of the UN Global Compact's principles focus on this social dimension of corporate sustainability, of which human rights is the cornerstone. Our work on social sustainability also covers the human rights of specific groups: labour, women's empowerment and gender equality, children, indigenous peoples, LGBTIQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, as well as people-centered approaches to business impacts on poverty and the environment. As well as covering groups of rightsholders, social sustainability encompasses issues that affect them, for example, education and health.

While Governments have a duty to protect, respect, fulfill and progressively realize human rights, businesses also have a responsibility to take action. At a minimum, we expect businesses to undertake due diligence to avoid harming human rights and to remedy any adverse impacts on human rights that may be related to their activities.

As a complement, not as a substitute for respecting rights, businesses can also take additional steps:

• Contribute in other ways to improve the lives of the people they affect, such as by creating decent jobs, goods and services that help meet basic needs, and more inclusive value chains.
• Make strategic social investments and promote public policies that support social sustainability.
• Partner with other businesses, pooling strengths to make a greater positive impact.

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