Strengthening Legal Frameworks on Business and Human Rights: The imperative for binding legislation to protect people and the environment
Some businesses and nancial institutions are already taking steps to meet their responsibility to respect human rights and the environment in their global operations, subsidiaries, portfolios and/ or supply chains. However, too many others are linked to serious abuses...
The nature and impacts of global business require action at multiple levels. e reliance on a voluntary approach to promote business respect for human rights and the environment has proven insu cient and does not prevent abuses of human rights and environmental damages. New measures are urgently needed to helpaddress gaps and insu ciencies in the global legal framework, which has not kept up with evolutions in the global economic and business reality, and to help redress the current imbalances between the rights and obligations of business...
Around the world, policy makers, business leaders, academics, campaigners and citizens are supporting legislative change to end irresponsible corporate practices. ere is a growing trend in Europe and beyond towards introducing mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence at the national level: legislative reforms and debates are advancing in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany, Finland, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Austria, as well as in Canada...
It is now time for the EU to build on these precedents and harmonise the expectations towards companies in law. New binding EU legislation will contribute to giving consumers, savers, retail investors and stakeholders at large the much-needed con dence that products, services or nancial products are free from human rights abuses and environmental damage. In parallel, following on from the 5th session of international negotiations on a revised draft text with participation by 90 States, this is a decisive moment for the process towards shaping a UN Treaty that can bring value to global e orts towards preventing adverse human rights e ects of business activities and providing access to justice for a ected people and communities.