Media coverage highlights
We regularly provide commentary, case studies and analysis on key issues relating to business and human rights.
From expert spokespeople to extensive datasets and analysis of corporate human rights practices, our work frequently features in leading media outlets across the globe.
View coverage of...
Workers in global supply chains
"No company is immune from labour rights abuse, and least not luxury companies. Brands need to wake up to the fact that forced labour and labour abuse exists across supply chains and sectors - and they need to be conducting proactive human rights due diligence to mitigate and address those risks to workers."Áine Clarke, Co-Head, Labour Rights in Supply Chains & Investor Strategy
Extreme heat is putting factory workers in danger. What should brands do?
Heat stress lays bare the tension between climate mitigation and adaptation. Workers are caught in the middle.
Fashion brands accused of shortcuts on climate pledges overlooking workers
A report found that while 44 fashion companies had public commitments to reduce carbon emissions, none had adopted a “Just Transition” policy.
In Data: Why is Asia-Pacific a hot spot for migrant worker abuses?
New data revealed that migrant workers in Asia-Pacific faced unsafe working conditions leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, widespread wage theft and excessive or illegal recruitment fees.
Just energy transition
"The renewable energy industry stands at a decisive moment: not only is it building the infrastructures of our future global energy system, but it also has the potential to contribute to a fairer global economic order through a rights-respecting energy transition. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment."Caroline Avan, Head of Natural Resources and Just Transition,
Comment: Respect for human rights offers renewables companies a competitive edge
Leading businesses are laying out the blueprint for what a rights-respecting energy transition could look like.
Rise in legal action against renewables companies over minerals
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre found 71% of lawsuits in its dataset were linked to minerals key to the green energy transition.
Indigenous peoples ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’ in the energy transition
Last year saw a record 156 allegations of human rights abuses involving mining for eight different critical minerals, 18 of them with impacts on Indigenous people.
China's emissions may be falling - here's what you should know
Recent findings showed that the rush to mine these minerals was fuelling human rights abuses and environmental destruction.
Podcast: DRC’s cobalt industry - is there any way of turning the country’s critical mineral wealth into a blessing rather than a burden?
Human rights risks are increasing across the renewable energy value chain, with a total of 95 lawsuits initiated globally since 2009.
Large rise in abuse claims at mines that may be vital to EU’s energy transition, report says
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre found 270 allegations of environmental and human rights abuses in transition mineral projects across 13 countries in Europe and central Asia last year, up from 92 the year before.
Opinion: Human rights are a blind spot of the green transition
The move away from fossil fuels will fail if the economics and treatment of people and nature replicate past injustices.
Digital tech & human rights
“Tech companies, with a few exceptions, are opaque and largely unwilling to provide information and disclosures, especially around this conflict, in a way that is incomparable to most other sectors. Increasingly, we’re seeing the central role that technology is playing in conflict, and this role is only going to get more embedded as we go forward."Gayatri Khandhadai, Head of Tech Accountability
‘There’s very little transparency’: How defence techs are deciding who to sell to
As defence has become more hyped, the pressure for companies to be transparent and responsible amid escalating conflicts is building.
Tech firms complicit in ‘economy of genocide’, says UN rapporteur
While an April 2024 survey asked 115 tech companies operating in the region how they safeguard human rights, just four responded, which was described as an “unprecedented” low.
Opinion: The hidden ESG risk in tech portfolios
These narrow criteria ignore widespread human rights risks in global electronics supply chains and significant gaps in corporate governance to address them.
Human rights defenders & civic freedoms
"Human rights defenders are on the frontlines of justice - challenging abuse, protecting our planet, and envisioning a better future for us all. Yet they continue to face relentless and often deadly retaliation simply for their defence of human rights. Defending rights is not a crime, it is essential to a just, sustainable world."Christen Dobson, Co-Head of Civic Freedoms and Human Rights Defenders
The North Dakota court battle testing free speech in Donald Trump’s America
Since 2015, more than 520 alleged Slapp lawsuits have been filed globally, according to a database from the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
Companies and investors must commit to ending attacks on human rights defenders
People advocating for better corporate behaviour faced an average of two attacks daily over the past 10 years, shows data.
Environmental defenders targeted in 3 out of 4 human rights attacks: Report
More than 6,400 attacks against human rights defenders were reported between 2015 to 2024, according to a new report from nonprofit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
Indigenous land defenders face rising threats amid global push for critical minerals
Although Indigenous people make up 6 percent of the world population, they accounted for one-fifth of the crimes documented in the report.
One-fifth of global environmental conflicts traced to 104 companies: report
A new analysis of over 3,000 environmental conflicts finds that a small group of mostly multinational firms, primarily from high-income countries, are disproportionately responsible for socioecological harm worldwide.
Governing business and human rights
"In today’s polarised environment, companies may feel compelled to be less visible and less vocal in their support for business and human rights. Yet in a moment of unwelcome pressures and heightened risks comes an even greater responsibility for companies to stand firm."Phil Bloomer, Chief Executive
Comment: Why Europe must hold its nerve on raising the ESG bar for business
With the climate crisis upon us, and public grievance at inequality growing, Europe is in a leading position in terms of long-term competitiveness through responsible business conduct.
Comment: Amid the Gaza horror, corporate complicity has become inexcusable
Business and investment leaders must halt any delusion that international law is someone else’s problem.
Comment: Profound cynicism or magical thinking? The basis of the EU omnibus
Transparency, a risk-based approach and an EU-wide civil liability regime need to be maintained.
How Europe’s ambition to lead on corporate human rights ran into the sand
Harmonised civil liability is very important for remedy, and also as an incentive for a true level playing field among companies of quality due diligence beyond just ticking boxes.
Comment: Corporate human rights policies still matter
Leading U.S. firms continue to conduct human rights due diligence, maintain access to grievance mechanisms and participate in the multistakeholder initiatives that have shaped responsible business standards over the past two decades.