UN Forum on Business and Human Rights
Implementation of Guiding Principles proceeds at slow pace
Governments, companies and civil society are gathered once again at the Palace of Nations, the headquarters of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, for the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, the largest event of its kind today.
This fourth edition of the conference, held between November 16 and 18, will focus primarily on discussing effective ways for governments and companies to fully implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – a set of standards that establish obligations and responsibilities for the public and private sectors on respect and protection of human rights.
An intense discussion is also expected on the interfaces between the Guiding Principles and the preparation of an international treaty on transnational corporations and human rights, being conducted by an intergovernmental working group (resolution 26/9 of 2014) that met for the first time in July of this year.
In an article published on the “Measuring Business and Human Rights” blog of the London School of Economics, Caio Borges, a lawyer with the Business and Human Rights project of Conectas, argues that despite the unanimous approval by the Council, the implementation of the Guiding Principles has been slow both at the global level and in domestic jurisdictions. Borges also stressed the importance of clarifying the responsibilities of each of the actors, namely governments, international organizations and companies themselves.
“The Brazilian case illustrates that this is necessary. Neither Congress nor the Executive Branch is fully committed to advancing the business and human rights agenda in Brazil. For example, neither the Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreements signed by the country over the course of 2015 nor the State-Owned Company Responsibility Law currently being discussed in the Legislature contain basic obligations for companies on the protection of human rights, such as human rights impact assessments,” said Borges.
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