How can investors engage with companies to prevent and address human rights abuses? RIAA's Human Rights Working Group is an initiative to support members in their stewardship responsibilities respecting human rights in their business operations and their portfolio of companies.
The Human Rights Working Group is a way for RIAA members to come together in the interests of building members’ understanding and capabilities for assessing and respecting human rights and mitigating human risks in investment; facilitating the sharing of leading practice knowledge and resources pertaining to human rights and investment decision-making and engagement; and designing and delivering significant human rights research, implementation and advocacy opportunities as relevant, through collaborating with other RIAA working groups and industry forums.
The meeting will open with a special presentation by Dan Neale. Dan Neale, Responsible Investment Social Lead at the Church Commissioners for England, will present on two emerging initiatives shaping the future of responsible investment. The Principles for Responsible Defence Investment (PRDI) is a new effort to address the lack of guidance and standards for investing in defence-related companies. Dan will outline how a small group of investors and subject matter experts are co-developing a formal concept note—set to be published ahead of PRI in-person—that will lay the foundation for the first draft of the PRDI. This initiative aims to establish clear principles for responsible engagement in a sector often overlooked in ESG frameworks. Dan will also speak on the Investor Initiative on Human Rights Data (II-HRD), a multi-stakeholder collaboration focused on improving the quality, coverage, and usability of human rights data in investment decision-making. Over the past two years, II-HRD has worked with leading data providers on methodology alignment and data disaggregation, and is now engaging proxy advisors to integrate human rights more effectively. The initiative will soon release a guidance document for ESG data providers, which Dan will preview during the session. This presentation will offer valuable insights into how investors can navigate complex social issues with integrity and accountability.
The meeting will then follow on with regular industry updates and the presentation of the workplan for 2026.
How to log into Zoom from Glue Up/registration link.
Senior Director, ESG & Stewardship – Workforce Integration
,
AustralianSuper
In her role at AustralianSuper, Antonia is focused on integrating workforce considerations into investment decisions, stewardship,and policy advocacy to support investment value for members. Antonia has previously held senior leadership, operational and legal roles at the Fair Work Ombudsman, the Fair Work Commission, and the National Union of Workers (now the United Workers Union).
Responsible Investment Social Lead
,
Church Commissioners for England
Dan leads on social issues within the Church Commissioners for England’s endowment fund; embedding‘respect for people’ into stewardship activities, looking at human rights,responsible technology, just transition and the system risk of social inequality. A large focus is leading on a collaborative investor engagement with key data providers and proxy advisors on their human rights offerings.
He previously worked at the World Benchmarking Alliance, leading their ‘social transformation’ work;integrating social considerations into benchmarks of the world’s most influential 2,000 companies to ensure the SDG transformations are just and leave no one behind. From 2017 to 2019, Dan was the Director of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB). The CHRB creates annual rankings of the largest companies (from high-risk sectors) on their approaches to human rights and engages with investors, corporations, civil society and governments to push for improvements in disclosure, alignment with the UNGPs and human rights performance.
Before CHRB he was asocial performance consultant, working in extractives and renewables projects in Africa, the Middle East and Europe between 2012 and 2017, focusing on social and human rights risk and impact management, team and systems development, and responsible security practices. Prior to 2012, Daniel spent the best part of a decade with the British military and several years working in civil-military coordination and conflict stabilisation roles, including in Afghanistan with the DfID-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand Province.
Dan’s first degree was in Physics from the University of Oxford, followed by a MSc in Security,Conflict and International Development. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.
