In the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles), the UN Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises (Working Group) launched the “Guiding Principles 10+ / Next Decade BHR Project.” The Project assesses the first decade of implementation of the Guiding Principles by States and business enterprises and aims to develop a roadmap for meaningful action in the decade ahead.

In recognition of the need to promote the investor responsibility to respect human rights, including as a key means to speed and scale up business respect for human rights, the Guiding Principles 10+ project shines a brighter light on the role of institutional investors – asset owners and managers – in Taking stock of investor implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

This report provides a summary of what rights-respecting investment entails, based on the expectations of the Guiding Principles, the authoritative global framework for the respective duties and responsibilities of governments and business enterprises to prevent and address business-related human rights impact. It outlines how enabling environments have fostered greater investor respect for human rights over the past decade and summarises signs of progress as well as major gaps and barriers to future progress. It wraps up by providing a set of recommendations for increasing investor action over the course of the next ten years and beyond, concluding that a widespread and serious embrace of long-term thinking and decision-making within investment institutions and the full spectrum of actors they work with is an essential and core component of upholding the dignity and wellbeing of individuals and communities.