Event Conference
15th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights
23 Nov 2026 – 25 Nov 2026
Venue: Palais des Nations
Organization: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
The 15th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, taking place from 23 to 25 November 2026 at Palais des Nations, brings together thousands of 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, for the world's largest annual gathering on business and human rights.
About the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights
The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights is the world’s largest annual gathering on business and human rights. Since its inception in 2012, it has brought together every year thousands of participants from governments, business, civil society, trade unions, international organisations, Indigenous Peoples, affected communities, academia and others from around the world. Last year, there was a record number of over 4,600 registered participants, the vast majority in-person at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Many others followed the discussions on UNWebTV. Centered on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the Forum provides a unique multi-stakeholder platform for discussing key trends and challenges in implementing and advancing the UNGPs.
The Forum is created, organized and managed entirely by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. The Working Group sits within Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council and is supported by a Secretariat based at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
15th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights
UNGPs at 15: Building on Gains, Confronting Gaps, Reimagining the Future
2026 marks the 15th anniversary of the endorsement by the UN Human Rights Council (in 2011) of the UNGPs, which is the authoritative global framework for States and businesses in relation to preventing and addressing adverse impacts on human rights arising from business activities. As exemplified during last year’s Forum, this anniversary comes at a time when the world is confronting interlocking crises that pose significant challenges to sustaining and accelerating commitments to protect and respect human rights in the context of business activities, and to provide effective remedy when harm occurs.
This Forum will provide a multi-stakeholder platform to reflect upon the positive impacts and enduring obstacles seen in the application and implementation of the UNGPs by States and businesses, and in providing access to effective remedies for rightsholders, over the past 15 years. It will also discuss ideas on the ways forward towards ensuring long-term embedding of policies and practices consistent with the UNGPs. The goal is for participants to leave the Forum with examples of measures that proved effective to advance UNGPs’ implementation, a renewed sense of hope for the future of business and human rights, and strengthened commitments to concrete action. Finally, it can be an opportunity to revisit the Working Group’s UNGPs10+ Roadmap for the Next Decade of Business and Human Rights, which outlined the need to raise the ambition, increase the pace of implementation, improve coherence and create greater impact of the UNGPs.
As with previous Forums, the agenda of the Forum will be built on the proposals made by all stakeholders, with the aim to ensure that they are as reflective as possible of current interests and issues both globally and regionally. Diversity of issues, speakers and approaches is encouraged in these proposals, including offering different ways of ensuring engagement by participants, while remaining within the scope of the general theme of the Forum. Some ideas of sub-themes include:
- Building effective stakeholder initiatives;
- Improving access to effective remedies, including in complex environments;
- Agribusiness, human rights and food security;
- Means and methods for improving corporate governance to ensure respect of human rights;
- Effective human rights due diligence, including in conflict-affected regions;
- The benefits and challenges of new technologies for protection and respect of human rights;
- Protecting groups at risk, including Indigenous Peoples, human rights defenders, women, children, persons with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ persons and migrant workers;
- Incorporating an intersectional lens to the implementation of the UNGPs;
- Developments in response to climate change and environmental degradation;
- The effectiveness of the role of financial institutions in ensuring respect of people and the planet;
- Capacity building of States, businesses and civil society; and
- Encouraging new voices, including young people.
The Forum will also provide an opportunity to address other issues that encompass systemic and emerging challenges confronting the business and human rights agenda.
Environment @ 2026 UN BHR Forum
The Forum will also provide an opportunity to address various issues in focus. These may include “standing items” for the Forum agenda, such as human rights defenders, civic freedoms and the role of business; gender, business and human rights; Indigenous Peoples rights and impacts of business activities; and more.
Environment-related events at the Forum and external events are listed below. A live-updated programme of work will be available on Sched. These events will also be livestreamed, which are available on the 2026 UN BHR Forum page. Several stakeholders are also organizing external events on business and human rights in the margins of the Annual Forum.
More information will be available.
Call for session proposals
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals for the program of the 2026 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights using this form. Please note that only contributions submitted via this form will be considered. Due to capacity constraints, only those invited to organize a session will be contacted. Confirmation emails will be sent by the end of August 2026 at the latest.
Deadline submission is on 24 April 2026.
Business, Human Rights, the Environment, and the Role of Geneva
Human rights and the environment are intrinsically intertwined. If we are to tackle environmental challenges without leaving anyone behind, the private sector must respect both the environment and environmental rights, and ensure they are not violated in their conduct of business operations and beyond. Consult this update that provides a brief overview on the connections among business, human rights, the environment, and the role International Geneva plays in strengthening such links.