Episode #26: Human rights as a competitive advantage with Marcos Neto, United Nations Development Programme

In this episode

Host Joachim Nahem, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder at Position Green, sits down with Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director at UNDP, to examine one of the most persistent dilemmas in corporate sustainability: does respecting human rights hurt or help business performance?

As geopolitical tensions rise and regulatory frameworks become more fragmented, many executives are questioning how far their responsibility should extend across global value chains. This conversation explores where accountability really sits today and why the debate around human rights, competitiveness, and transparency is reaching an inflection point for global business.

Marcos Neto unpacks new research from UNDP that directly challenges the assumption that human rights due diligence comes at the expense of financial performance. Drawing on a multi year analysis of more than 200 global companies across sectors including apparel, extractives, automotive, ICT, and agriculture, he shares what the data actually shows and why ignoring human rights can pose a real risk to long term value creation.

Learn about

• Human rights and financial performance: Why companies with stronger human rights practices see higher returns on assets and why declining performance carries measurable financial risk.
• The myth of lost competitiveness: What the evidence says about investor reactions, cost concerns, and profitability.
• Regulation, investors, and accountability: How responsibility is shaped not only by law but by stakeholder expectations and risk management.
• Emerging human rights risks: What leaders should watch as business models evolve across areas like AI, data centres, critical raw materials, and reshoring.
• Materiality in practice: How executives can focus on what truly matters without trying to solve every problem in the world.

About Marcos Neto

Marcos Neto is Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director at UNDP, where he leads work on private sector engagement, sustainable finance, and governance. With more than three decades of experience across civil society and international institutions, Marcos works at the intersection of business, human rights, climate, and development. He has been closely involved in advancing global standards on disclosure, due diligence, and the integration of sustainability into corporate decision making.

Resource from this episode: Human Rights vs. Competitiveness: A False Dilemma?