Lexology: Ethical Certifications: can we really trust them?

“The MSI Integrity report makes clear that ethical certification schemes alone are not instruments of human rights protection. They are not effective in ensuring accountability for corporate abuse. They do, however, continue to have a role as part of a more complex picture. Thus, whilst certification schemes will no doubt continue, it is necessary to supplement these with other measures. Public regulation together with private MSIs is required to help strengthen the standards with which companies must abide,” writes Leigh Day for Lexology.

Read the full article covering MSI Integrity’s new report, Not Fit-For-Purpose, here.

Zebras Unite: Pivot to People: It’s Time to Build the New Economy

“This month, researchers at MSI Integrity released “Not-Fit-For-Purpose,” their final report about these practices, and the culmination of a decade of analysis. The verdict? This experiment failed. Behind the external public relations campaign, power consolidated, and rights holders became disenfranchised. Not only did these efforts fail to address the root causes of abuse, but they cloaked and compounded them. The key takeaway: just because more people are invited to a company’s table doesn’t mean their voices are heeded, or their interests promoted. We are navigating a nearly identical bargain in big tech: a surge of voluntary, preemptive, symbolic gestures,” writes Zebras Unite.

Read Zebras Unite’s full “Pivot to People” proposal, which cited our latest report Not Fit-For-Purpose, here.

Executive Director of MSI Integrity, Amelia Evans, discusses new report on Radio FM4

“We need to shift away from this reliance on voluntary initiatives—period—and actually start to demand that our governments do what they’re supposed to do, which is to regulate—at the local, national and international levels—corporations,” says Amelia Evans, Executive Director of MSI Integrity, on Radio FM4’s You’re at Home, Baby! with Christian Cummins.

Listen to the full interview broadcast here.

Coalition of Immokalee Workers: New Study Confirms: All social responsibility programs NOT created equal!

“This exciting new study underscores the unprecedented effectiveness of the the Fair Food Program, and the urgency of the need to expand the broader WSR model to millions of workers in industries across the globe.  The evidence is clear, yet far too many corporations remain slow to recognize the model’s unique efficacy, and continue to partner with, and invest in, the dozens of demonstrably ineffective MSI programs in agriculture, apparel, and other key industries,” writes the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Read the full post about our latest report, Not Fit-For-Purpose, here.

BHRRC: MSI Integrity report finds corporate oversight initiatives fail to detect & remedy abuses; calls for more effective regulation of corporations

“The Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (MSI Integrity) […] released a report concluding that global efforts by some of the world’s largest multinational corporations, governments, and civil society organizations have failed in their goal of protecting against human rights abuses by corporations,” writes the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

See the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s full write-up of our new report, Not Fit-For-Purpose, here.

The Guardian: Ethical labels not fit for purpose, report warns consumers

“The study of 40 global voluntary initiatives, including emblematic on-pack labelling schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Fairtrade International, identifies multiple failures in what it refers to as a ‘grand experiment’ in corporate accountability,” writes Oliver Balch in The Guardian.

Read The Guardian‘s full coverage of MSI Integrity’s new report, Not Fit-For-Purpose, here.