Business & Human Rights

NGOs Criticize Asian Bank's Nonfinancial Impact Plan

September 23, 2015

A group of nongovernmental organizations ("NGOs") has published a letter to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ("AIIB") calling for more extensive and interactive consultations with communities on how the AIIB will take environmental and social factors into account when making investment decisions.
EU Advances Israeli Settlement Product Labeling Plan

September 22, 2015

NPR reports that EU officials are moving forward with a plan to mandate the labeling of Israeli products originating in settlements in the West Bank, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem.
Paper Documents Market Responses to EU Disclosure Directive

September 22, 2015

A recent academic article on the market effects of an EU directive mandating the disclosure by companies of certain social and environmental information documents the negative market reactions to the directive among investors in companies with currently low disclosure levels and companies with weak nonfinancial performance.
NGOs Promote Action Plans to Advance BHR Agenda

September 22, 2015

In a recent paper, representatives from the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable promote national action plans ("NAPs") as an effective way to advance activists' agenda on business and human rights ("BHR") and advise countries on NAP elements that will help these plans succeed.
Ruggie and Sherman: Legal World Must Take Note of BHR

September 16, 2015

Professor John Ruggie of Harvard University and attorney John Sherman of the nonprofit group Shift write that the announcement by the international sport organization FIFA that its partners must comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ("BHR") signals the need for attorneys to advise corporate clients on the meaning and reach of BHR standards.