Saving the Planet is Not for Everybody: A Model of CEOs' Reactions to Human Rights Defenders

Abstract

While multinational companies develop meta-level policies to address grand sustainability challenges and CEOs are increasingly showing their social activism, the hard work of concretely defending communities’ rights and the environment from business exploitation is often left to powerless individuals, known as human rights defenders (here defenders), who face severe risks for their advocacy. According to some statistics, between 2015 and 2022, defenders worldwide have been subject to over 4,000 attacks, including killings, tortures, and intimidation. In this chapter, the authors discuss the relevance of defenders to the promotion of the sustainable development goal (SDG) agenda and develop a conceptual model to predict CEOs’ reactions to defenders.

Citation

Morreale, V. and Giuliani, E. (2023), "Saving the Planet is Not for Everybody: A Model of CEOs' Reactions to Human Rights Defenders", van Tulder, R., Giuliani, E. and Álvarez, I. (Ed.) International Business and Sustainable Development Goals (Progress in International Business Research, Vol. 17), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 345-365. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1745-886220230000017018