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UK Eyes Expansion of Corporate Reporting Law
August 31, 2017
Helena Milner-Smith and Hannah Edmonds of the law firm Covington & Burling have published an update on UK legislation that would expand the mandatory provisions of a law requiring British companies to publicly report on their efforts to eliminate forced labor in their global supply chains, and exclude companies that fail to comply from public procurement processes.
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Governments Pressure Companies to Contribute to SDGs
August 31, 2017
A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative on the proceedings of the UN High-Level Political Forum on the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlights how countries reporting their SDG progress to the UN are increasingly lookin to the private sector, through corporate reporting and other methods, to contribute to their efforts.
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Governments Fill Gaps in ICC Prosecutions
August 31, 2017
In an important development for multinational businesses operating in areas of armed conflict, Human Rights Watch describes the success of nongovernmental organizations in pushing Western governments to use the principle of "universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction" to prosecute rights violations where the International Criminal Court (ICC) fails to intervene.
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Activists Push AIIB to Uphold "Green" Pledges
August 31, 2017
Lowell Chow of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre highlights skepticism from environmental and rights activists that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a venture launched by China as a "clean and green" alternative to Western development banks, will avoid coal support and establish a proper mechanism to prevent land rights violations.
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Canada Faces Expanding Pressure on BHR Action Plan
August 30, 2017
Warning of Canada's lack of a "coherent policy approach to address business and human rights" (BHR) issues in corporate supply chains, Michael Torrance of the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright calls on the Canadian government to develop a "national action plan" on BHR to set a "baseline" for responsible behavior by Canadian businesses.