AI Around the Globe: What to Know in 2024
Impact of environmental, social and governance agenda on tax
Suzanne Folsom & Christopher Burnham on Private Sector Lessons
ESG is understood to be an acronym for “environmental, social and governance,” but the term can be challenging because it’s used to describe similar but distinct communities of practice, including corporate social...more
The risk of businesses becoming involved with, and potentially complicit in, grave human rights abuses is naturally higher in the context of armed conflicts and other situations of widespread violence. The UN Development...more
Corporate Obligations to Address Forced Labor in Supply Chains Relevant to You? International organizations like the International Labor Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the...more
The UK Government’s recent announcement emphasises a more ambitious modern slavery agenda and, specifically, the use of a “smarter mix” of measures across policy, regulation, stakeholder expectations and corporate practice to...more
This paper attempts to provide a definition and context for the term, Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”), explain how and why it is used, demonstrate how investors are driving the proliferation of ESG reporting,...more
Overview Of United Nations: Principles For Responsible Investment - Overview of the UN PRI - The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (the “UN PRI”) is an initiative developed in partnership with the United...more
In a significant development for ESG and corporate governance, BlackRock is now calling on the public companies it invests in to publish disclosures in line with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the...more
Sustainable finance and its surrounding infrastructure offers growing potential for deals and green innovation. The global sustainable finance market has expanded rapidly in recent years, approaching US$320 billion in new...more
Since it was established in 2014, a United Nations Inter-Governmental Working Group (“IGWG”) has met annually to develop a multilateral treaty to attempt to hold businesses legally accountable for harms that may be related to...more
Human rights issues increasingly require the assistance of experienced counsel who can help employers navigate very fluid and complex legal, business and societal considerations. ...more
On 16 July, a UN working group published a revised draft of its business and human rights treaty (following the “Zero” Draft published in July last year). Our post looks at some of the key developments, with a particular...more
Since 2015, a United Nations working group has met annually to negotiate and draft a multilateral treaty that addresses human rights violations committed by businesses. The most recent of these annual meetings was held from...more
The UN intergovernmental working group tasked with developing a binding international treaty on business and human rights recently concluded its fourth round of negotiations in Geneva (15-19 October 2018). ...more
On 19 July, the UN working group tasked with elaborating an international, legally binding instrument on business and human rights published the text of a draft treaty....more
It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes: a look ahead at the upcoming UN Forum on Business and Human Rights;...more
It was a pleasure to speak in Geneva earlier this month at a consultation hosted by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR“) on the scope for making businesses strictly liable for human...more
On September 26, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights released new Standards of Conduct intended to support the business community in tackling discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex...more
It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring. This week’s post includes: a new report from the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human...more
It’s Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we’ve been monitoring....more
Five years ago, on June 16, 2011, the way we view the human rights responsibilities of companies changed. On that day, the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and...more
First it was Petrobras but it certainly did not take long for the second shoe to drop for the other corrupt national energy company in Latin America, the Venezuelan national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, also known as...more
It’s time for another rundown of five developments in the field of business and human rights — and broader corporate social responsibility — that we’ve been monitoring....more
In late February, after 18 months of research and consultation, a new Reporting Framework has been released to help companies report on their human rights performance in a manner aligned with the expectations set forth in the...more
The Business and Human Rights Working Group of the International Bar Association (“IBA”) recently released draft guidance for bar association and business lawyers on implementation of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business...more
Earlier this month, a group of global banks known as the Thun Group released a discussion paper exploring the ways in which financial institutions might seek to integrate the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human...more