The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality

What The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality does

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder coalition launched in September 2021 to mobilize private-sector action against structural inequality. It is coordinated and powered by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and operates through a lean WBCSD Equity Action team of approximately 12 staff. The coalition comprises 80+ Commissioners — 55 corporates and 28 non-private-sector organizations including three UN agencies (UN Global Compact, UNICEF, UNHCR) — across business, intergovernmental, civil society, and academic constituencies.

BCTI's core outputs are intellectual products rather than technology: a flagship report ('Tackling Inequality: An Agenda for Business Action', May 2023) defining a 10-point action agenda; Executive Action Briefs on Just Transition, Human Rights, and Living Wages (March 2025); the Business Value & Social Performance Approach practical guide co-developed with PwC Netherlands (April 2025); and case studies such as the PwC-authored Unilever social impact study. Five working groups — Human Rights, Just Transition, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Social Performance & Accountability, and Living Wages & Incomes — provide peer-learning platforms. The flagship report has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese and launched regionally in Latin America ahead of COP30 in Brazil.

BCTI is not a commercial entity: it charges no membership fees, generates no revenue, and has no separate legal incorporation. Operations are funded through WBCSD's infrastructure and budget. The January 2024 merger of Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) into WBCSD's Equity Action Imperative created the B4IG Equity Action Platform, and subsequent partnerships with B4SI (February 2025), Open for Business, and Valuable 500 (September 2024) have systematically consolidated adjacent inclusion-focused coalitions under the BCTI umbrella, expanding thematic scope and member reach.

Name

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality

Legal name

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality

Website

https://tacklinginequality.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) is a Geneva-based, WBCSD-powered multi-stakeholder coalition of 80+ corporate, UN, civil society, and academic Commissioners that publishes policy reports and action frameworks to mobilize private-sector action against structural inequality.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Advocacy Coalition

NAICS

Business Associations (81391), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Transitional Justice, Accountability & Reparations (BPADAGAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Business Continuity, Crisis Management & Operational Resilience (BPAHAFAK)

Keywords

• Inequality policy advocacy
• Sustainability coalition building
• Corporate equity frameworks
• Social impact reporting
• Private sector mobilization

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Coalition Membership and Coordination: BCTI operates as a non-profit coalition coordinated and powered by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The coalition brings together corporate members and partners who commit to advancing the BCTI's 10-point action agenda within their own organizations. BCTI does not charge membership fees but operates through the infrastructure and funding of WBCSD.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) is a cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder coalition that mobilizes the private sector to address inequality. Its core offerings are published intellectual frameworks, flagship reports, executive action briefs, case studies, and practical guides that translate the BCTI 10-point action agenda into concrete steps for corporate leaders across five priority areas: Human Rights, Just Transition, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Social Performance & Accountability, and Living Wages & Incomes.

Product overview

The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality (BCTI) operates as a coalition-powered advocacy platform rather than a traditional software product. Its core offerings center on published reports and guidance documents: the Flagship Report 'Tackling inequality: An agenda for business action' serves as the foundational document containing a 10-point action agenda; Executive Action Briefs provide condensed guidance on specific topics (Just Transition, Human Rights, Living Wages, Community Resilience); the Business Value & Social Performance Approach offers practical methodology for companies; and the B4IG Equity Action Platform provides a broader coalition network for implementation support. BCTI also produces case studies and translated regional versions of its flagship report.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Closing the living wage gap could generate an additional USD $4.56 trillion yearly through increased productivity and spending
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.

• Business for Societal Impact (B4SI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2025B4SI joined BCTI in February 2025 as a partner. With over 160 members globally, B4SI's standardised frameworks and network enable businesses to strategically address inequalities through community investment, business innovation, and procurement for social impact. B4SI members have collectively invested US$2.6 billion globally, reaching 52.8 million beneficiaries in 2023/24.
• Open for BusinesskeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024Open for Business joined BCTI in September 2024 with a mandate to advance LGBTQ+ rights globally. Since its launch in 2015, Open for Business has been building consensus among the global business community that anti-LGBTQ+ policies are detrimental to business interests and economic development.
• Valuable 500keyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024Valuable 500 joined BCTI in September 2024 with commitment to ending disability exclusion in business. Representing a coalition of over 500 global partners, Valuable 500 works to ensure that the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide are fully included in services and opportunities offered by businesses.
• United Nations Global CompactcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024UN Global Compact joined BCTI's extended two-year phase. The agency works with companies to tackle inequalities by ensuring all workers receive a living wage, advance gender equality and work towards a just transition to achieve SDGs' vision of fair, equitable, sustainable development.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024UNICEF joined BCTI to help put people at the heart of the just transition and make social accountability a market reality. UNICEF works to ensure children and youth have access to opportunities and resources needed to thrive.
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee AgencykeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024UNHCR joined BCTI to contribute to efforts addressing inequality and supporting refugees and displaced populations through business action and inclusive practices.
• Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) Equity Action PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024B4IG merged with WBCSD's Equity Action Imperative to create the B4IG Equity Action Platform. B4IG had mobilized business leaders from 35 companies around a Pledge for action in support of inclusive growth since its launch in August 2019.
• Council for Inclusive CapitalismcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2023Council for Inclusive Capitalism partnered with WBCSD and PwC to release a report on just transition in the energy system. The Council developed the Just Transition Framework for Company Action identifying four essential pillars: Universal net-zero energy, Workforce evolution, Community resilience, and Collaboration & transparency.
• World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2021BCTI is coordinated and powered by WBCSD. WBCSD is the premier global CEO-led community of over 200 leading sustainable businesses working to accelerate system transformations for a net zero, nature positive, and more equitable future. WBCSD provides infrastructure, staffing, communications, and global network access for BCTI operations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• World Economic Forum: Broad incumbent in multi-stakeholder convening on global agendas including inequality, just transition, and stakeholder capitalism. Overlaps BCTI in corporate CEO engagement on social issues but operates at a much wider scope across geopolitics, technology, and finance.

Direct peers

• UN Global Compact: UN-led business-engagement initiative on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. BCTI is a Commissioner via UN Global Compact, but the two share mandate overlap on living wages, gender equality, and just transition within corporate value chains.
• JUST Capital: US-focused non-profit that ranks corporations on stakeholder behavior and drives capital toward more just companies. Overlaps BCTI on inequality reduction through corporate behavior change and is an endorsed BCTI Commissioner.
• Capitals Coalition: Coalition promoting natural, social, and human capital accounting in business decision-making. BCTI partner with overlapping methodology on double materiality and social performance measurement.
• Forum for the Future: International sustainability non-profit working on just transition, climate, and inequality. Commissioner of BCTI; comparable in mission to accelerate systems change through multi-stakeholder partnerships with corporates.
• World Benchmarking Alliance: Develops free public benchmarks of corporate performance on the SDGs. Comparable to BCTI in tracking corporate action on social issues and an active BCTI partner organization.
• Shift: Leading non-profit on business and human rights, focused on UN Guiding Principles implementation. BCTI Commissioner; comparable in providing expert guidance to corporates on embedding human rights into operations and supply chains.
• B4SI (Business for Societal Impact): Coalition of 160+ companies measuring and managing social impact through community investment, business innovation, and procurement. Joined BCTI as a partner in February 2025; closest peer in providing frameworks for corporate social investment at scale.
• Council for Inclusive Capitalism: Direct peer focused on mobilizing business action on inclusive capitalism and just transition; partnered with WBCSD and PwC on a just-transition energy framework. Most directly comparable coalition in mandate and corporate-target audience.

Emerging players

• Open for Business: Coalition building the business case for LGBTQ+ inclusion globally; joined BCTI as a partner in 2024. Comparable in mobilizing corporate evidence-based advocacy, but narrower focus area.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wbcsd
• Xx.com/BCTI_WBCSD

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality