Business & Human Rights

UN Pushes Broad Regulation of Plastics Use

March 13, 2017

The UN Environment Programme has launched a Clean Seas campaign that is calling on governments around the world to broadly regulate the use of plastics, including by banning "microplastics" and pushing businesses to adjust their supply chains to reduce plastic waste, to limit the amount of plastics that reach marine ecosystems.
NGO Monitors Business Grievance Procedures

March 13, 2017

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a human rights NGO composed of legal experts, has established a panel that bypasses national governments and directly guides the internal grievance-resolution practices used by businesses around the world, citing human rights concerns produced by "poor design and/or implementation" of these practices.
Ruggie Refutes Narrow Interpretations of UNGPs

March 08, 2017

In a letter on the meanings of key terms in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), Harvard Professor and creator of the UNGPs John Ruggie writes that they encompass a broad scope of conduct businesses must assess across their operations and relationships.
NGO: Action on SDGs Fulfills Duties Under UNGPs

March 02, 2017

In a report for a commission of business representatives and others seeking fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the nongovernmental organization Shift calls for businesses to abide by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) by recognizing their responsibility to contribute to the SDGs in their operations and supply chains.
Energy Companies Brace for Singapore Carbon Tax

March 02, 2017

Reuters reports on the potentially substantial impacts of Singapore's announced tax on greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2019, in line with the UN's climate deal agreed in Paris in 2015, on multinational energy companies involved in fossil fuel development in the city-state.