Business & Human Rights

HP Pledges 100 Percent Renewable Energy

April 13, 2016

Demonstrating the pressure on businesses from activists and international organizations to commit to goals to prevent climate change, technology company HP has pledged to implement the UN climate change and sustainability agendas through a move to 100 percent renewable electricity in its operations.
Litigants Seek Corporate Liability for Supply-Chain Forced Labor

April 13, 2016

The nongovernmental organization Human Rights First has published an update on recent litigation in which plaintiffs have attempted to use a California law requiring corporate reporting on efforts to end forced labor in their supply chains and the US Alien Tort Statute to hold US businesses liable for connections to foreign companies that use forced labor.
HRC Votes for Database on Businesses Involved in Israeli Settlements

April 12, 2016

The UN Human Rights Council ("HRC") has voted to establish a database of businesses involved in Israeli settlement activities in what the resolution identifies as "the Occupied Palestinian Territory" and has called on countries to advise companies of potential liability for "gross human rights abuses" in the region.
UK Commissioner Outlines Supply Chain Reporting Requirements

April 12, 2016

UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commission Kevin Hyland has published an open letter to British businesses stressing the need for transparency and a "proactive approach" by large businesses using their bargaining power to comply with a new law seeking to eliminate human trafficking and modern slavery throughout corporate supply chains.
NGO Guide Highlights Complexity of Supply Chain Forced Labor

April 12, 2016

A guide from the nongovernmental organization Sedex on how auditors and businesses can root out forced labor in their supply chains spotlights the complexity for companies in determining whether working conditions at a supplier amount to "extreme forms of exploitation" that could lead to liability.