Business & Human Rights

OECD Meeting Pushes for "Responsible Business Conduct"

August 25, 2017

In June, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) hosted its 2017 Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct to explore a wide variety of ways, ranging from "due diligence" efforts to business school curricula, in which to push companies to comply with the business and human rights, climate change, and "sustainable development" agendas.
EU Body Calls for Policies for "Sustainable Finance"

August 25, 2017

The EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance has released a report calling for the EU to push the bloc's finance industry toward expanding its contribution to the global "sustainable development" agenda and to force finance leaders to consider environmental, social, and governance factors in their long-term strategic thinking.
UN Committee Outlines States' BHR Obligations

August 25, 2017

Human rights advocates Mary Mayenfisch-Tobin and Gabriela Quijano summarize a June general comment from the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights asserting that governments have obligations under international law to provide remedies for corporate violations of the business and human rights (BHR) agenda, including through prosecution of companies.
NGO Report Urges Norway to Phase Out Fossil Fuels

August 24, 2017

A report from nongovernmental organization Oil Change International asserts that, to fulfill its commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement on global warming, the Norwegian government should implement policies providing for a "managed decline" in fossil fuel production and a "just transition" for workers in the oil and gas industry.
GRI Touts Findings on Corporate Reporting Framework

August 24, 2017

A press release from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) celebrates a finding of the consulting firm Governance and Accountability Institute that companies using GRI's global sustainability reporting guidelines provide better public disclosures of their social and environmental impacts than those that do not use GRI's framework.