Science: A Human Right for Our Times

Authors

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  Dunstan Allison-Hope

  Senior Advisor, BSR

  

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  Dunstan Allison-Hope

  Senior Advisor, BSR

  

  San Francisco

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  Dunstan leads BSR’s work at the intersection of technology and human rights.

  Previously, Dunstan led BSR’s information and communications technology, heavy manufacturing, and human rights teams.

  He brings significant experience working on a diverse range of engagements and issues, including human rights due diligence, privacy and freedom of expression, sustainability reporting and strategy, and stakeholder engagement.

  Dunstan facilitated the multistakeholder process of developing global principles on freedom of expression and privacy, which led to the launch of the Global Network Initiative in October 2008. He also helped create the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, a collaborative initiative of more than 100 ICT companies improving conditions in their supply chains. Dunstan participated in the process of creating the Global Reporting Initiative G3 guidelines, and he is a regular commentator on issues of corporate accountability, reporting, and human rights. He also co-authored the 2010 book Big Business, Big Responsibilities.

  Prior to joining BSR in 2004, Dunstan was part of British Telecommunications' corporate responsibility team.

  Dunstan has an M.Prof. in Sustainable Development from Forum for the Future.

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• 

  Hannah Darnton

  Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR

  

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  Hannah Darnton

  Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR

  

  San Francisco

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  Hannah works with multinational companies to align business and human rights strategies and facilitate incorporation of sustainable practices into business operations across sectors.

  She focuses on the intersection of human rights and new, disruptive technology and leads the Tech Against Trafficking collaborative initiative.

  Prior to joining BSR, Hannah worked with the Skoll Foundation, where she co-led the portfolio and investments team’s efforts to identify social entrepreneurs with the potential to drive large-scale social change. Her work led to over US$20 million in grants and investments between 2015 and 2018. Before Skoll, Hannah spent six years working in anti-human trafficking in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Bay Area. She is fluent in French.

  Hannah holds a Master’s in NGOs and Development from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in Political Science and French from the University of Michigan. She currently serves on the advisory boards of Oxfam’s Women in Small Enterprise initiative and Convening17.

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• Joanna Lovatt

  Former Manager, BSR

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  Cynthia Wang

  Manager, Human Rights, BSR

  

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  Cynthia Wang

  Manager, Human Rights, BSR

  

  Singapore

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  Cynthia supports BSR’s human rights and supply chain work in Asia. Her project experience spans multiple social topics and industries, including financial services, extractives, and information and communications technology. She also supports the cross-industry Human Rights Working Group.

  Prior to joining BSR, Cynthia worked as a legal trainee at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, where she conducted legal research and analysis to assist with legal complaints against transnational corporations. She also participated in a research project on corporate civil liability at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. Additionally, Cynthia previously interned at UN Women China, where she provided support on communications and project management for work related to domestic violence and CSR development in China.

  Cynthia holds an M.A. in Human Rights from the University of Vienna and a B.A. in Law from National Taiwan University. 

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Science is having a moment.

Despite extensive misinformation about COVID-19, vaccines have been developed at an extraordinary speed.

Despite continued skepticism about the science of climate change, new energy technologies are positioned to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

And despite myths about health impacts, a fifth generation of mobile network technology (5G) will make possible new internet of things and machine-to-machine applications.

Each of these cases demonstrates how significant science is to the role of business in enabling the realization of human rights and how it will likely grow substantially over the decades to come.

There are two key forces shaping the growing importance of the right to science for business:

• The expanding role of the private sector in all types of scientific research, which includes artificial intelligence, agricultural research, food science, biotechnology, nanotechnology, energy, genetic engineering, and communications technology.
• The undeniable significance of science in addressing or contributing to global challenges such as climate change, public health, and access to information.

The right to science is found in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out the right to “share in scientific advancement and its benefits,” and Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which sets out the right “to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.”

However, while these Articles are written for states rather than the private sector, we were struck by the lack of literature exploring the right to science and the role of companies.

Further, while the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) clearly apply to all business activities, the focus of the business and human rights field to date has largely been on business operations and value chain relationships rather than on research and science. In this context, the publication last year of a new General Comment No. 25 on the Right to Science by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights was a significant development.

For this reason, and using General Comment No. 25 as a foundation, today we are publishing a new BSR primer on the right to science and the role of companies. The BSR primer sets out the following seven priorities for business:

1. Science should be deployed in the service of the universal enjoyment of human rights.
2. The right to science applies to everyone.
3. Human rights due diligence should be undertaken on research, including whether research should be undertaken in the first place.
4. Companies need diverse research teams and relationships.
5. Companies should provide the public with accessible information concerning the risks and benefits of science and technology so that informed decisions can be made.
6. Companies should deploy approaches based on informed consent.  
7. The right to science has limits, especially when it may be deployed or misused for nefarious purposes.

These seven priorities will become important as new dilemmas about science emerge over time. For example: 

• When is it right to abandon research priorities on account of potential future harms arising from use of the research, even if the same research has the potential to bring benefits too? If the research continues, what are the right mitigation measures to address potential future harms?
• How should responsibility for addressing adverse human rights impacts be distributed between the entity undertaking the research and the entity using it?
• What responsibility do scientists have to explore the human rights risks and benefits of their research?
• How much research should be published openly in the public domain when there is risk that the research may be abused to cause harm?
• What incentive structures will both respect the material interests of the author and spread the benefits of scientific research?

These are not easy questions, and we believe they will benefit from further exploration, debate, and dialogue using both the spirit and the letter of the UNGPs.

The right to science is a right for our times. We hope that our new primer becomes the basis of exploring in more depth how this right can be respected, protected, realized, fulfilled, and enjoyed.