The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST) Initiative, released its report Business Case for Action: Mobilizing Sustainable Finance against Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (May 2026).
Human Level’s Take:
- Can sustainable finance help tackle modern slavery and human trafficking at scale? The UNDP argues that one of the biggest barriers is not a lack of awareness, but a lack of investment. Despite 28 million people currently in situations of private sector forced labour, funding for prevention and remediation remains far below what is needed.
- The costs of inaction are real: operational disruption, legal exposure, reputational risk and weaker supply chains. On the flip side, investing in prevention, due diligence and remediation can support more resilient business models.
- That means modern slavery risk cannot sit on the margins of financial decision-making. It needs to be built into lending, investment, procurement and supply chain decisions. Stronger due diligence, traceability and disclosure are part of that shift.
- What comes through clearly is that compliance alone will not be enough. The report argues that more resilient supply chains require investment in worker protections, responsible recruitment, remediation mechanisms and stronger labour market systems.
- The bigger question is how to move capital at scale. The report points to collaboration between businesses, investors, governments, development finance institutions and philanthropic actors as key to mobilising finance and scaling what works.
- Other key actions include treating modern slavery as a strategic business issue rather than a compliance exercise. The report highlights the importance of strengthening due diligence and traceability systems, improving disclosure of modern slavery risks and impacts, and directing resources towards prevention and remediation efforts.
Some key takeaways:
- How a financing gap can turn into a structural development risk: An estimated 28 million people are affected by forced labour, yet the financing — both public and private — directed toward prevention, identification and remediation of this issue remains far below what is needed. The report frames this as a global investment gap: a mismatch between the scale of the problem and the resources currently mobilised to address it. This gap is driven by fragmented and insufficient funding, limited integration of modern slavery risks into mainstream financial decision-making, and persistent challenges in measuring both risk and impact. It also reflects a broader misalignment in which the human, social and economic costs of exploitation are often not fully accounted for in investment decisions. In this context, modern slavery and human trafficking are framed not only as human rights harms, but as structural development risks, meaning that they are sustained by deeper systemic factors, including poverty, weak labour protections, informal employment, inadequate social protection and limited access to finance. The consequences therefore extend far beyond affected individuals, shaping labour markets, supply chains, and economic development more broadly. This, the report suggests, calls for more coordinated and sustained financial responses alongside traditional anti-slavery interventions.
- Preventing and remediating modern slavery and human trafficking is financially material: The report makes the business case for investors and companies to invest in the prevention and remediation of modern slavery and human trafficking, helping them to stave off material threats to cash flows, asset valuations and operational resilience. Modern slavery creates avoidable costs for businesses through operational disruptions, supply chain instability, legal and regulatory exposure, reputational damage, and reduced workforce productivity. For example, non-compliance with modern slavery laws in countries like Canada and the U.K. carry the risk of fines and criminal prosecution, while forced labour import bans in the EU and U.S. can create operational disruption. In addition, forced labour can create internal costs like increased worker instability and lower productivity, and opaque supply chains can limit companies’ ability to anticipate and respond to supply chain disruptions. Addressing these risks can generate strategic benefits, including stronger supply chain resilience, improved access to capital, enhanced stakeholder trust, and greater alignment with evolving investor expectations and regulatory requirements. The report therefore advocates for an "impact-integrated" business case, where social outcomes are considered alongside financial performance, positioning investments in modern slavery prevention and remediation not only as a risk management measure but also as a contributor to long-term business value and resilience.
- Sustainable finance as the key to help tackle modern slavery and human trafficking at scale: The report argues that businesses have a key role to play in mobilising capital to address modern slavery and human trafficking. Rather than treating these issues solely as compliance risks, it encourages companies and financial institutions to integrate them into broader sustainability, risk management and investment strategies. Practical actions include strengthening due diligence and traceability systems, improving the measurement and disclosure of modern slavery risks, and embedding these considerations into lending, investment, procurement and supply chain decisions. The report also highlights the importance of collaboration between businesses, investors, governments, development finance institutions and philanthropic actors to bridge investment gaps. It points to opportunities to combine different sources of capital, develop clearer impact metrics, and strengthen the evidence base for prevention and remediation efforts. More broadly, the report encourages investment in more resilient supply chains and labour market systems that can help address the root causes of exploitation.
