It should come as no surprise to this newspaper's readers that we are living in a time of widespread backlash against globalization and in some places modernity itself...

This backlash, and the turbulence it creates, are hardly good for business. And yet if I may be blunt: business has been part of the problem... 

Today's business and government leaders have a critical choice before them. One choice is to continue with the practices that bear significant responsibility for the widespread upheaval we see today. The other choice is to seize upon the opportunity to reorient business practices toward creating long-term value both for the business and for society - business as part of society, rather than apart from it. In other words, a way of doing business that supports socially sustainable markets...

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide a roadmap that helps bridge the governance gaps and imbalances that must be addressed for businesses, global supply chains and globalization itself to become socially sustainable. My proposition to business is that respect for human rights -- respect for the dignity of every person -- is the key to ensuring a socially sustainable globalization, from which business stands to be a major beneficiary.