Sustainability and ESG efforts

Disability inclusion is increasingly gaining importance in corporate sustainability practices, including in Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) efforts and reporting. Further, investors are increasingly considering non-financial factors and sustainability considerations - also within ESG frameworks - in their decision-making processes.

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The ILO Global Business and Disability Network (GBDN) launched in 2024 the “Business Leaders’ Pledge on Disability-Inclusive Sustainability Practices”, which also states “As responsible corporate leaders, we recognize the significant business and social value of fostering inclusive environments that empower people with disabilities as employees, customers, and as business partners. In alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Pact for the Future as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we commit to promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities through the perspective of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) and other sustainability frameworks.”

The Pledge constitutes a public commitment by ILO GBDN company members to do even better and aspire to greater disability inclusion within their sustainability efforts. It remains open for signature and has been signed so far by

  1. Angela Beatty, Chief Leadership & Human Resources Officer, Accenture
  2. Frédéric de Courtois, Deputy CEO, AXA
  3. Aiman Ezzat, CEO, Capgemini
  4. Sabine Bonnard, Group Chief HR Officer, Egis
  5. Mireia Gimeno, Global Culture and Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Inditex
  6. Margaret Johnston-Clarke, Global Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, L'Oréal
  7. Christel Heydemann, CEO, Orange
  8. Carmen Muñoz Pérez, Executive Managing Director of People and Organization, Repsol
  9. Suzanne DiBianca, Executive Vice President & Chief Impact Officer, Salesforce
  10. Audrey Duval, Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs, Sanofi 

To support the Pledge signatories and non-signatory companies worldwide, the Network published Putting the I in ESG: Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Sustainability Practices as Strategic Advantage for Corporates and Investors. This guide provides a framework for defining and reporting on corporate practices that make disability inclusion efforts more comprehensive. For each of the ten areas of this framework, between two and eight Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and existing corporate good practices are provided.

The session "Disability Inclusion as strategic advantage of sustainability efforts" at the ILO GBDN's 11th global annual conference "From Margin to Mainstream: Disability in Business" on 27th and 28th November 2024 discussed why and how companies, investors and sustainability standard setters should "put the I in ESG" and promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in sustainability practices.

The Zero Project Conference 2025 Forum "Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Sustainability Practices" by the ILO GBDN explored how companies, investors and standard setters can effectively put the "I" - that stands for Inclusion - in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and other sustainability frameworks.