10th UN Forum on business and human rights

A RECORDING OF THIS SESSION IS AVAILABLE HERE.

Session organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Interpretation will be available in English, French and Spanish

Brief description of the session:
The session will highlight concrete rights-based actions that States, businesses, investors and other actors should take to prevent, mitigate and remediate the climate crisis. Various panellists will unpack the urgent steps that various actors should take in line with key international instruments such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) as elaborated by the forthcoming Information Note developed by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Ten years after the adoption of the Guiding Principles, the session will frame this discussion around how actors from different constituencies should act together to achieve rights-based just transition that give priority to people and the planet over profit.

Key objectives of the session:
The session aims to:

• Discuss guidance on the how to implement UN Guiding Principles in the context of the climate crisis;
• Underline the importance of meaningful and effective participation of people, including communities in vulnerable and marginalised situations, in developing policies, solutions and actions aimed at achieving just transition;
• Highlight the linkages between States’ duty to protect human rights and rights-based climate action;
• Unpack what the business responsibility to respect human rights entails in the context of the climate crisis; and
• Articulate access to remedy for individuals and communities affected by climate change.  

Key questions:

• How can the UNGPs inspire inclusive, rights-based climate action? What good practices could States, businesses and other actors such as civil society, national human rights institutions, academia and international organizations draw on?
• What does the duty of States to protect human rights mean in the context of averting climate crisis?
• How should business enterprises integrate climate considerations as part of their human rights responsibility to respect human rights throughout their operations, including as part of due diligence?
• How can access to information, transparency and policy coherence be ensured, and what measures are needed to address corporate lobbying against measures aimed at mitigating climate change?
• How can access to effective remedy for individuals and communities affected by climate change as well as the protection of environmental human rights defenders be ensured in recovery measures and beyond? What are existing challenges and opportunities?

Background to the discussion:
In a dedicated statement for UNFCCC COP26, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for “business models that are respectful of the environment and protect human rights” and noted that “Governments and other authorities, businesses and individuals have a shared responsibility to prevent, mitigate and remedy the negative human rights impacts of climate change.”

Preventing environmental harm is critical to ensure the full and effective implementation of fundamental human rights such as those to health, a healthy environment, and water and sanitation. All States have an obligation to pursue development that benefits both people and the planet and equitably distribute the benefits of economic growth. Businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights, including to integrate climate considerations into human rights due diligence processes.

Courts, non-judicial mechanisms such as National Contact Points as well as human rights mechanisms are increasingly being called on to interpret and apply the obligations of states and businesses in the context of climate change. In 2021, the EU Parliament approved a proposed outline for an EU Directive on Mandatory Human Rights, Environmental and Good Governance Due Diligence. In addition, the OECD has recently undertaken a stocktaking exercise seeking comments on its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights is developing guidance on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in the context of climate change.

Additional background documents:

• OHCHR, Key Messages on human rights, climate change and business
• The Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights (including its dedicated section on the rights of future generations and climate justice) provides a framework to operationalize the human right to a healthy environment, as well as rights-based recovery and climate action at all levels.
• UN Working Group’s forthcoming Information Note on Climate Change and the UNGPs