16 April 2024. The Taiwan Business Forum for Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence, organised by Work Better Innovations in partnership with the Institute for Human Rights and Business and supported by CommonWealth Magazine, Target and the European Chamber for Commerce Taiwan, took place last week on 9 April 2024 in Taipei.
The one-day Forum marked the inaugural major international undertaking to address the topic in the Taiwanese business sector and featured international and domestic business leaders, speaking on human rights and environmental due diligence.
In the months leading to the Forum, WBI produced a three-part Policy Brief series under the Taiwan Project for Business and Human Rights, underpinning the core themes of its panels:
* Panel 1: Operationalising Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights in Taiwan
* Panel 2: Labour Migration to Taiwan: Leveraging Responsible Recruitment for Sustainable Development
* Panel 3: Sustainability in Action: Strategies for Taiwanese Enterprises in a Changing Climate
Structured around these Policy Brief bilingual series, the Forum’s agenda convened international and local practitioners to discuss current issues and perspectives in corporate human rights and environmental due diligence.
For a full description of the agenda, click here.
During the panel discussions, we explored the issue of:
Corporate Responsibility: Why is it more difficult for smaller enterprises to implement the adequate human rights due diligence (HRDD) and how we can help them?
Responsible Recruitment: How is this a business opportunity for Taiwanese enterprises in light of higher expectation on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights?
Sustainability: How can Taiwanese companies, especially SMEs, reconcile the challenges of client demands with increasing costs and human rights and environmental due diligence?
In addition to WBI and IHRB, we have confirmed speakers from:
- Target
- CommonWealth Magazine
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- Caux Round Table Japan
- IKEA
- Embode
- Baker McKenzie
- European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan
- Sustainable Fashion Story Wear
- NIRAS Taiwan
- Samsung Electronics
We were privileged to have the Director of Responsible Sourcing & Sustainability at Target, Ninh Trinh, alongside the Head of CommonWealth Magazine Sustainability League and Deputy Editor at Large, 熊毅晰 Jimmy Hsiung, open the Forum, and a presentation by Monique Gerson, the Global Human Rights Senior Manager at Samsung Electronics providing the closing keynote.
The Forum’s priority was to build sustained domestic momentum for corporate responsibility, ultimately to improve the competitiveness of Taiwanese enterprises in the global economy, placing higher expectations on human rights and environmental due diligence.
Our initial feedback survey analysis shows that 83% of respondents attended the Forum in order to enhance their professional knowledge on the subject matter for work. More than 70 percent of all respondents said they were able to gain a fuller understanding of global development in the area of business and human rights after attending the Forum.
“Heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the Taiwan Business Forum on Human Rights & Environmental Due Diligence happen on 9 April 2024 in Taipei. Full hearts and gratitude for the positive feedback.” – Dr Bonny Ling, Executive Director of WBI
There is a lot more to note about the Forum. In the coming weeks, we will continue to highlight main points raised by the speakers and release our final survey analysis findings.
We hope that by organising this Forum, we could provide a launchpad for further cross-sectoral and international-domestic dialogues on human rights and environmental due diligence in Taiwan. Stay tuned for more activities!
