Justice

There are no such thing as low-skilled jobs, there are only low-opportunity jobs where people are treated as commodities. We don't train them.. we don't give them autonomy… we don't give them any financial upside… yet when they fail to be creative, and fail to do more than the job requires, we say they just aren't very clever or capable…. Guess what; if you put someone in leg-irons, they will have a hard time running.

Management theorist & author who revolutionized strategic thinking

Human progress often comes at great cost to people who are willing to sacrifice for the sake of principles or in defense of the rights of others. It took hundreds of millions of people to die before we created a global security and human rights order and all of these are under stress. One would hate to think it would be another similar amount of deaths before we made more progress.

UN Human Rights Chief & International Justice Advocate

You cannot say you support a values based human rights agenda and have your defense industry dictate the terms of your relationships between states to the extent that you won't criticize states who you sell weapons to. People see this for what it is, they recognise the internal and external inconsistencies and are tired of it.

UN Human Rights Chief & International Justice Advocate

In my experience, unless you are directly affected by a human rights abuse, you are unlikely to give it a second thought. How many times do you draw breath a day? It's about 22,000 times – you don't think about it until you can't. That's exactly how most people view human rights- they are generally apathetic and may express some concern or sympathy when they hear about something on the news, but they don't mobilise unless it affects them directly.

UN Human Rights Chief & International Justice Advocate

I recently heard from a woman in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who said, 'until I met the IRC, I didn't know that rape was a crime… I didn't know rape was even a word…' that was immensely powerful.

British Labour Politician & Former Foreign Secretary

If you don't give people legal routes to hope, they will find illegal routes and put themselves in the hands of criminals. That's the reality. We have record numbers of refugees and displaced people, and so for criminal gangs this is a business which is at scale.

British Labour Politician & Former Foreign Secretary

In the midst of a global health and economic crisis, in the midst of a racial justice uprising, and in the absence of effective government, business leaders must take a stand on issues that matter to society and to their stakeholders!

Co-Founder of Bridgewater Associates & Pioneer in Radical Transparency

There's a joke within Facebook that if you want to know which countries will have a genocide in the next couple of years, look at the ones that have Facebook free basics.

Design ethicist & founder of Center for Humane Technology

We need to give women the freedom and confidence to believe and be whatever they want to. This isn't just about business, but about social conditioning in all cultures. Even now I experience inequality- I see it when I go to external meetings and I see two solicitors, both equal, and a female pouring the tea.

Founder and former CEO of Ann Summers lingerie and party plan business

It's sad that we don't immediately see the profound injustices embedded in climate change. It is precisely those people who have no responsibility for having caused climate change who are the most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate.

Former UN Climate Change Executive Secretary & Global Climate Action Leader

In China, we have been working closely with the Chinese Supreme Court prosecutors and administrative environment. In the last two years, these prosecutors have initiated over 100,000 cases- they do things in a big way- and want to transform the landscape such that companies know they will get hammered if they don't comply.

Environmental lawyer and founder of ClientEarth

The people who will be disproportionately harmed by climate change are those who are (in general) less advantaged economically and socially. Justice means equality of opportunity for all human beings, and that equality of opportunity is quickly reduced if you're in Bangladesh and your home is flooded or if you're in Nigeria and your crops fail because the rains have changed.

Environmental lawyer and founder of ClientEarth

We believed, and took on board the promise of growth, that it would even things up again, that it would clean up after itself, and that actually was a panacea to many of our economic ills. Yet, all the evidence has shown us that growth does not even things up- some of the richest countries in the world are becoming immensely unequal and we have seen that growth certainly doesn't clean-up after itself.

Creator of the Doughnut Economics framework for sustainable development

People knew they were risking their lives going out for George Floyd, for #BLM. People were sure that they were risking death when building mutual aid webs or asking for dignity on the streets. People are choosing humanity, dignity, freedom and equality as ideals even when they perceive a risk of dying.

Turkish journalist, author, and political commentator known for critical writings on democracy

Wherever there's judgement there's noise, and more than you think. In the criminal justice system, we saw variability between judges in the severity of their sentencing for equivalent crimes. In business, you may have a company where someone in hiring says, 'bring everyone in, I think they're great' and you end up with a company full of people who shouldn't be there.

Legal scholar & behavioral economist; Obama administration official; "Nudge" theory pioneer

Our economic measures aren't wrong, they're incomplete. Smith noted that a successful economic system is one where everyone who participates can flourish. That's not about equality of outcome, but about the fact that everyone has the ability to flourish, equality of opportunity.

Dean of Columbia Business School & Economic Policy Advisor