Business & Human Rights

NGO Praises Talks on "Ambitious" BHR Treaty

November 02, 2016

In a press release, Friends of the Earth International has lauded last week's "ambitious and far-reaching negotiation" in Geneva over a binding UN treaty that would require countries to implement the global business and human rights agenda, and praised rules that restricted business participation in the process due to "conflicts of interest."
Paper Calls for Canadian Fossil Fuel Divestment

November 01, 2016

Jeff Rubin of the Centre for International Governance Innovation has called for the Canadian government, following the adoption of a set of global greenhouse gas emissions pledges at the UN, to pressure its public pension plans to divest from fossil fuel companies and to require Canadian banks to "stress test" their exposure to carbon assets.
NGOs Call for Global BHR Tribunal

November 01, 2016

A group of nongovernmental organizations called the Global Campaign has submitted a series of principles for inclusion in a binding UN business and human rights treaty, including directly imposing human rights obligations on corporations, eliminating court costs for alleged BHR victims, and establishing a global tribunal to hear BHR claims.
Report Reviews Corporate Liability on Forced Labor

November 01, 2016

The Institute for Human Rights and Business and the law firm Hogan Lovells have partnered to produce an overview of legislation in eight jurisdictions subjecting corporations to liability for contributing to forced labor or failing to report their efforts to end it in their own operations or in their complex, global supply chains.
NGOs: BHR Treaty Must Address Trade Deals

November 01, 2016

A group of nongovernmental organizations known as the Treaty Alliance has called on the working group charged with developing a binding UN business and human rights treaty to establish the primacy of the treaty over any international trade and investment agreements and to set up a mechanism to monitor the BHR impacts of such trade deals.