Human rights
Our commitment to respect human rights covers all our operations, including our employees, contractors, suppliers, and neighbouring communities.
Progress
While we respect and consider all human rights important, our highest priority human rights remain the primary focus of our work:
- Health and safety
- Fair employment conditions
- Forced labour
- Freedom of association
- Non-discrimination and non-harassment
- Land and natural resource rights acquisition and management
- Grievance mechanisms
- Children’s rights (relevant to the forest sector).
We continued to develop our human rights due diligence programme in 2020. By the end of the year, we had finalised 22 out of 24 actions addressing development areas that were identified for Group function processes in 2019.
How we work
Human rights risks are considered throughout Stora Enso's operations – for example in investment decisions, mergers, acquisitions, and divestments.
Stora Enso's human rights due diligence procedures include:
- Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs)
- Community consultations
- Appropriate grievance and remediation mechanisms
- Accountability through transparent reporting
Our policies
Human rights are integrated into our Sustainability Agenda, which is aligned with the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. Relevant Stora Enso policies on human rights include, for example:
Other documents related to our human rights work
Opportunities and challenges
Many of the human rights challenges we face are deeply rooted in local society and can only be effectively addressed through a long-term commitment and close cooperation with global and local stakeholders. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights emphasise that companies have an ongoing responsibility to respect human rights, even where government actions and regulatory frameworks are inadequate. In addition, new legislation is being explored and developed in numerous countries to address human rights due diligence by companies. Stora Enso supports legislation that puts companies on an equal standing.
