A COALITION formed in 2019 to combat modern slavery in companies’ supply chains has since been backed by 65 investors with collective assets of £15 trillion, CCLA Investment Management reports.

CCLA invests money on behalf of almost 12,000 Church of England clients, including parishes, dioceses, and cathedrals. Its latest report, Find It, Fix It, Prevent It, published on Wednesday, is named after the initiative (News, 1 September 2023), which was launched at the London Stock Exchange in 2019.

Modern slavery presents a financial risk to business, the report says. “Ten million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates. Of those trapped in forced labour, 63 per cent are in the private sector, which means that the business sector is exposed to modern slavery risk. The UK alone imports an estimated US$18 billion worth of goods that present a high slavery risk.”

It points to the recent establishment of the CCLA Modern Slavery Benchmark, which assesses the modern-slavery statements and other disclosures of the largest 100 UK companies. This has led businesses that deal in consumer goods, travel, retail, mining, technology, and finance to invest new resources into tackling modern slavery and promoting human rights, it says.

A former UK Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Dame Sara Thornton, a CCLA consultant, said: “There is evidence that companies are taking more steps to identify, mitigate, and prevent forced labour. It is this kind of responsible business conduct which will prevent vulnerable workers from egregious exploitation and abuse.”

Several large publicly listed companies, including the National Grid, Reckitt, RELX, Rio Tinto, and Tesco, have now acknowledged this benchmark in their 2023/24 modern-slavery statements, CCLA reports.

Also highlighted is a round table on modern slavery in the construction sector, held by the Cabinet Office, CCLA Investment Management, LGT Wealth Management, and the Supply Chain Sustainability School. It was also attended by 17 UK-listed and private construction companies, including Balfour Beatty.

“We have been following industry conversations on this topic since the roundtable, and we understand that several large construction companies have indicated they are willing to support the development of a such a network,” the report says.

Dame Sara and Dr Martin Buttle, the Better Work Lead for CCLA, gave evidence this year to the House of Lords review of the Modern Slavery Act. They argued that stronger legislation was needed to improve transparency in supply chains.

The same argument has been submitted in written evidence to the Home Affairs Committee on Human Trafficking: that the UK should adopt a similar model to the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which was agreed in May.

The chief executive of CCLA, Peter Hugh Smith, said: “Modern slavery is often a misunderstood and underestimated problem, and one where investor engagement has the potential to drive tangible and lasting positive change. We remain committed . . . to tackling modern slavery head-on.”