Business & Human Rights

UN Meeting Pushes Businesses to Promote Sustainability Agenda

July 11, 2014

At a recent meeting of the UN Global Compact and entities associated with UN principles on investment and management education, the UN Secretary-General and others called for businesses to promote the international agenda on climate change and "sustainable" corporate practices.
NCPs Discuss Duties of Finance of Extractives Sector

July 11, 2014

A group of National Contact Points ("NCPs") for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises recently joined a meeting at which they discussed the application of the Guidelines to financial industries with investments in the extractive sector.
NGOs Claim Liability of Corporate Executives for Global Warming

July 10, 2014

Three nongovernmental organizations ("NGOs") have sent a letter to corporate executives of insurance and energy companies suggesting that, in future lawsuits, courts may hold them personally liable for the harms caused by climate change.
NGO Criticizes Conflict Minerals Reporting as Insufficient

July 10, 2014

As U.S. companies release their first legally required reports on the use of "conflict minerals" from war-torn areas in Africa in their products, the nongovernmental organization ("NGO") Global Witness has complained that these reports do not sufficiently assess companies' use of these minerals.
BP Publishes 2013 "Sustainability Review"

June 23, 2014

As nongovernmental organizations ramp up their pressure on transnational corporations to provide human rights and environmental impact assessments, the oil and gas company BP has released an assessment of its impacts on the environment and societies in which it operated in 2013.