Volvo 2015 Annual Report Download - page 74

A GLOBAL GROUP BUSINESS MODEL RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS BEHAVIOR
MANAGING HUMAN RIGHTS
The Volvo Group is a company with a global reach, and as
such, we have operations, suppliers, customers and
other business partners in countries with higher risks of
human rights abuses. We have embarked on the journey
to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights. Specific policies guide our work such as our Code of Con-
duct, our Health and Safety Policy and our Responsible Supply
Chain Directive. The Volvo Group has defined our salient human
rights issues as labor rights of business partners’ employees;
rights of people in communities near operations in our value chain
and right to life, liberty, security and health. We are increasingly
developing and integrating tools to assess and manage human
rights in all our main processes. During 2016 we will initiate human
rights due diligence for our own organization.
Labor rights of business partners’ employees
The Volvo Group’s Code of Conduct sets out our minimum stand-
ards for respecting human rights and labor practices. We encour-
age all partners to share and apply these standards, regardless of
country or business. Our responsible sourcing program, page 30,
and customer CSR assessment process, page 38, are two tools
we work with to ensure that human rights are respected in our
value chain. Where human rights issues are identified, the Group
believes that we can have more impact by cooperating with part-
ners and applying influence from the inside, than by abstaining
from business and remaining on the outside.
Rights of people in communities near
operations in our value chain
All people have the right to an adequate standard of living and to
ownership of land and property. For people living in certain com-
munities near operations in our value chain, we see risks of these
rights not being properly respected. We have policies and proce-
dures to reduce the negative environmental impact and ambitions
to increase the positive social impact from our operations. We
encourage our business partners to do the same.
1Labor rights of business partners’
employees
2Rights of people in communities
near operations in our value chain
3Right to life, liberty, security
and health
MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN
RIGHTS ISSUES
The Corporate Governance Report is detailed later in this
report, on page 168. The structures we have in place for
CSR and sustainability governance enable rapid and effi-
cient decisions and adjustments, when necessary. We
aim to involve all employees and clarify how each individual contrib-
utes towards our targets.
New corporate function
Following the Volvo Group’s structural reorganization, taking
effect on 1 January 2015, the responsibility for the two corporate
functions, Corporate Communication and Corporate Sustainability
& Public Affairs, was merged into the new corporate function of
Corporate Communication & Sustainability Affairs.
Henry Sténson was appointed Executive Vice President Cor-
porate Communication & Sustainability Affairs and member of the
Volvo Group Executive Team. Corporate Communication & Sus-
tainability Affairs is responsible for:
• Strategies, direction and following up on performance
• Supporting and developing the Volvo Group’s businesses in
areas related to CSR and sustainability, public affairs and rele-
vant emerging issues.
Implementation of principles in Code of Conduct
The Volvo Group CSR Committee supports and develops the
Group’s CSR work. This committee focuses on work related to
responsible business practice and the implementation of the prin-
ciples in our Code of Conduct into daily operations. The CSR
Committee is chaired the Volvo Group’s Senior Vice President,
Corporate Social Responsibility Management. The committee’s
members include CSR managers from across the Group who rep-
resent different relevant processes for the implementation of the
principles in our Code of Conduct with the support of their own
CSR networks.
Network for efficient social engagement
During 2015, the CSR country manager network started the
implementation of an effective societal engagement program,
Moving Society Forward. The members of this group coordinate
CSR activities in their respective countries and share experiences
of their work in the Volvo Group’s Moving Society Forward program.
CSR GOVERNANCE
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