Business & Human Rights

UN Group Seeks Spread of BHR "Due Diligence" Laws

April 05, 2017

The UN Working Group on business and human rights (BHR) issues has released a statement welcoming a new French law requiring companies to show they are performing "due diligence" to identify and address human rights impacts in their operations and supply chains and calling on other governments to follow France's lead in broadly implementing the BHR agenda.
Workshop Pushes for Strong CoE Guidelines on BHR

April 05, 2017

A recent workshop hosted by the Danish Institute for Human Rights gathered representatives from governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), businesses, and other institutions to generate proposals for a wide-ranging business and human rights (BHR) recommendation at a high-level seminar to be hosted by the Council of Europe (CoE) in June.
Professor: Brexit Could Worsen “Modern Slavery” in UK

April 05, 2017

Professor Andrew Crane of the University of Bath has warned that the decrease in legal immigration to the UK as a result of the country leaving the EU will likely increase demand for trafficked labor and contribute to other exploitive business practices.
NGO Chief Calls for Global Agreement on “Modern Slavery”

April 05, 2017

Phil Bloomer of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has proposed a “Global Modern Slavery Agreement” that would set out international standards for “mandatory transparency, mandatory due diligence, incentives for action, and access to justice and remedy” required of businesses to combat forced labor around the world.
UNCTAD, GRI Partner to Promote “Sustainable” Investment

April 05, 2017

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have announced a new partnership to promote investment in companies that agree to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including by collaborating on the UN’s Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative.