The Evolving Human Rights Legal Landscape: A 2020 Update and Forecast

Date and Time

February 19, 2020
9:00 am-11:30 am CET

Location

Copenhagen

Topic

Human Rights

On June 16, 2011, the first framework to define the corporate responsibility to respect human rights was unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council, in the form of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). They provide an authoritative global standard for addressing the risk of adverse human rights impacts linked to business activity and created far more consensus than any previous attempt to create a binding treaty. They also provide further conceptual and operational clarity to the two human rights principles championed by the UN Global Compact.

While a soft-law instrument, the UNGPs are leading to the development of hard law instruments at the national level across many European countries for mandatory human rights due diligence. This has resulted in the adoption of legislation in France and the U.K. and proposals for mandatory human rights due diligence in Germany and Switzerland. In the beginning of 2019, we also saw three Danish political parties put forward a parliamentary motion that called on the Danish government to introduce a bill on human rights due diligence for all large companies as well as companies in high-risk sectors. This motion was supported by more than 100 stakeholders.

The UN Global Compact Network Denmark and BSR are pleased to host a session on human rights legal developments. This event will share with members and stakeholders at large the implications of national mandatory due diligence laws and what it means for a company’s management of its human rights responsibility.