A GlobeScan Shared Research Program
Rising inequality is a defining challenge of our time. While inequality in itself stands as an underlying trend, in recent years it has reemerged as a social and political flash point across many countries. In particular, 2020 has seen a sharp increase in inequality throughout the world, with the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating fallout affecting the most vulnerable, along with the growing demand for social justice marked by Black Lives Matter protests.
According to the latest GlobeScan-SustainAbility Survey of experts on progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Goal #10, Reduced Inequalities, has seen the least progress, with 84 percent of stakeholders saying that progress on this Goal has been poor. When looking at the views of the general public, a majority of citizens around the world (55%) say dealing with challenges like inequality and climate should be a priority for building the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
Soaring inequality has put additional pressure on companies, as they are seeing increased expectations on the part of citizens to find ways to foster a more equitable world. But how can businesses play their part in the most authentic and impactful ways?
About the Addressing Inequality Project
To help catalyze corporate action to address inequality, GlobeScan worked with 20 companies from various sectors, gathering insight, facilitating dialogue, and developing best practices to approaching inequality.
Through a series of interviews with Sustainability/CSR teams as well as Human Resources and Diversity & Inclusion teams, GlobeScan identified the biggest challenges and opportunities to address inequality in the workforce, supply chains, and wider society. GlobeScan also conducted in-depth interviews with inequality subject matter experts (from sectors including NGOs, investors, and multi-lateral organizations) to understand best practices in addressing inequality. With this insight, and in conjunction with its global public opinion research of sustainability leaders and consumers, we identified key expectations of business in the space, paving the way for effective action to tackle the challenge of inequality.
