Sir Geoffrey Chandler will be remembered as one of the foremost figures in the business and human rights field.

He was one of the first business leaders to champion corporate social responsibility. He introduced Shell’s first statement of general business principles in 1976; he was the founder-chair of the Amnesty International UK business group in 1991; and, from 2001, was emeritus chair of the group.

Throughout his career, he was a passionate advocate of the idea that businesses and business leaders have responsibilities to society. Many of the most important developments in the area of business and human rights – the companies that have made policy commitments to action on human rights, the fact that many Amnesty sections now have groups focused on business and human rights, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and even the work of the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights – trace their origins to Geoffrey’s pioneering work.

Geoffrey wrote extensively and eloquently on business and human rights. In 2008, he reflected on his work with Amnesty and on the evolution of the business and human rights debate in an essay for Ethical Corporation: Business and Human Rights – A Personal Account from the Front Line.

Re-reading this essay, it is clear how much of the progress that has been made can be directly attributed to Geoffrey’s own drive and commitment. The essay also provides insights into Geoffrey’s own beliefs about the moral responsibilities that companies owe to society and the duties we as individuals have to creating a just and equitable world.

It is perhaps most fitting to mark his contribution through his own words:

“Companies contribute much to the benefit of the world, … the best of them have their own principles and morality, and those who work in them are no more or less moral than ourselves. But if a company does harm in carrying out its business, if it fails to do the good within its legitimate power, then it will rightly be condemned.

“As a doctor’s son, brought up with the Hippocratic Oath, I believe that principle should be the point of departure for all activities: that we should do right because it is right and not because economic interest dictates or the law compels. If we make this an issue solely of law and not of morality we will never win.”