Elements of effective human rights due diligence regulation: lessons from legal developments. Wednesday, November 28, in Room XX (8:30am – 9:45am). This session organised by Frank Bold, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and Conectas Human Rights will present independent research on how companies implement HRDD regulations and companies’ own experience. It will specifically focus on the EU Non-financial Reporting Directive (presenting the research of the Alliance for Corporate Transparency), the UK Modern Slavery Act, the Brazilian “Dirty List” and the French Duty of Vigilance Law. Light breakfast will be provided.
Human rights due diligence and legal liability. Wednesday, 28 November in Room XXIV (10:00am-11:20am). This roundtable discussion organised by the OHCHR will build on the latest report of the OHCHR’s Accountability and Remedy Project and the UN Working Group’s 2018 report to the General Assembly. Participants will discuss how the HRDD and corporate legal liability interrelate, the circumstances in which States should require companies to conduct HRDD, and what measures may provide incentives to conduct meaningful HRDD as opposed to ‘check-box’ exercises.
Similarly, there will be another session in the same afternoon that will focus on meaningful corporate human rights reporting, and discuss current practices and challenges.
Toward meaningful corporate human rights reporting. Wednesday, 28 November in Room XXl (15:00pm-16:45pm). Organised by the Global Reporting Initiative, this roundtable event will focus on how to achieve meaningful corporate human rights reporting and discuss ways to overcome key challenges. Filip Gregor, Head of Responsible Companies at Frank Bold will speak on behalf of the Alliance for Corporate Transparency project and engage in a debate with two companies (Rio Tinto and Nestlé) concerning their human rights reporting.
The Forum will be held in Geneva on 26-28 November with a theme of "Business respect for human rights – building on what works". It is the world’s largest annual event examining the relationship between business and human rights, welcoming around 2000 participants from government, business, community groups and civil society, law firms, investor organisations, UN bodies, national human rights institutions, trade unions, academia and the media. Over three days, participants will take part in more than sixty panel discussions on topics that relate to the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in addition to current hot topics regarding business-related human rights issues. You can find more information by following the link below: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Forum/Pages/2018ForumBHR.aspx
Updates from the event and sessions highlighted above will be posted on our twitter @purposeofcorp and the recently created account for the Alliance for Corporate Transparency Project (@EUCorpReporting).
