13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

About the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

Since its first session in 2012, the annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights has brought together thousands of participants from governments, international organizations, business, civil society, trade unions, communities, lawyers, and academia from around the world (there were 4,000 participants in 2023). Centered on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) – the authoritative global framework for States and businesses in relation to preventing the adverse impacts on human rights arising from business activities – the Forum provides a unique multi-stakeholder platform for discussing key trends and challenges in implementing and advancing the UNGPs.

13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

The “smart mix of measures” – national, international, voluntary and mandatory – has been central to the realization of the UNGPs over the past decade. Already into the second decade of implementation, this is the moment to reflect on what the “smart mix” means now and into the future, what has worked and not worked, and how should the smart mixes that are emerging in different parts of the world better integrate access to remedy as the third pillar of the UNGPs in view of novel challenges, including those presented by the fragility of global value chains.

Accordingly, this Forum will offer participants a multi-stakeholder platform to explore key trends and prospects at the national, regional, and global levels in relation to the implementation of the UNGPs through a “smart mix”. This may include specific application and implementation of a smart mix of measures in the following proposed, but not exhaustive areas:

• State action;
• Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI);
• Access to Remedy for all;
• Climate change, environmental challenges, and nature-based solutions;
• Indigenous Peoples rights; and
• Human rights due diligence.

These sessions and others will examine both the challenges and opportunities of the smart mix.

Environment @ 2024 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 parallel events are listed below. A live-updated programme of work is available on Sched.

Monday, 25 November

• BHR informal dialogues: Just Transition | 9:00 – 9:40 CET | Room XIX
• Opening plenary | 11:40 – 13:00 CET | Room XX & Online
• Networking hubs: Human Rights Defenders & Civil Society Organizations | 13:20 – 14:20 CET | Room XX
• A smart mix of measures to leverage the contribution of financial actors to a just transition | WG on business and human rights, Investor Alliance for Human Rights & Principles for Responsible Investment | 15:00 – 16:20 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Have Smart Mix measures worked for (W)HRDs, Indigenous Peoples and afro-descendant communities? | 15:00 – 16:20 CET | Room XX & Online
• Ten years of debates and negotiations on a legally binding instrument on business and human rights: taking stock of progress and remaining challenges | 16:40 – 18:00 CET | Room XXIV & Online
• Raising the Bar through Climate Change Litigation | WG on business and human rights & OHCHR | 16:40 – 18:00 CET | Room XIX & Online

Tuesday, 26 November

• BHR informal dialogues: Corporate Influence in the Political and Regulatory Sphere | 9:00 – 9:40 CET | Room XX
• Do National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights Work in the Asia-Pacific? | WG on Business and Human Rights | 10:00 – 11:20 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshot series on groups at risk: Addressing irresponsible disengagement for a just energy transition: empowering communities through a decolonization, decarbonization, and decentralization lens | WG on Business and Human Rights, SOMO & Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA) | 10:00 – 10:25 CET | Room XXIV
• Snapshot series on groups at risk: Lessons and good practices on a smart mix of measures in the agricultural sector | WG on Business and Human Rights and the International Cocoa Initiative | 10:25 – 10:45 CET | Room XXIV
• Advancing an Integrated Corporate Approach for People & Planet | Parallel Event | Accountability Accelerator & Laudes Foundation | 10:30 – 12:00 CET | Geneva Graduate Institute, Maison de la Paix
• Snapshot series on groups at risk: Lived Realities in Accessing Remedy: A Grassroots Perspective on Remediating Human Rights and Environmental Harms by Industrial Diamond Mines in Africa | WG on Business and Human Rights & IPIS | 11:20 – 11:45 CET | Room XXIV
• ‘Smart Mix of Measures’ and Implications of European Legislative Developments in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia | WG on Business and Human Rights, Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business (PL), Y. Mudryi National Law University & UNDP | 11:40 – 13:00 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshot series on groups at risk: Prevention and remedy of human rights abuses in the value chains of “critical” minerals: insights and cross-continental learning from Latin America and Africa | WG on Business and Human Rights & Broederlijk Delen | 11:50 – 12:15 CET | Room XXIV
• Snapshots series on practical approaches and tools on HRDD for business: Building effective grievance mechanisms: implementing a mix of solutions across the business ecosystem | WG on Business and Human Rights, Löning – Human Rights & Responsible Business & Ulula | 11:50 – 12:15 CET | Room XXIV
• Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of large-scale land acquisition | WG on Business and Human Rights and the Indigenous Caucus | 15:00 – 16:20 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshots series on practical approaches and tools on HRDD for business: Unlocking Success: Crafting Transformational Business Models in a Smart Mix of Measures | WG on Business and Human Rights & Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney | 16:20 – 16:45 CET | Room XXIV
• Towards more effective corporate accountability in Latin America: prevention, remediation and participation in the design of measures | WG on Business and Human Rights & International Federation for Human Rights | 16:40 – 18:00 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshots series on practical approaches and tools on HRDD for business: Safeguarding Human Rights: A Strategic Approach Through Due Diligence in Renewable Energy Projects | WG on Business and Human Rights & Statkraft | 16:45 – 17:10 CET | Room XXIV
• Snapshots series on practical approaches and tools on HRDD for business: The European Model Clauses and Responsible Contracting in Supply Chains | WG on Business and Human Rights & Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV | 17:10 – 17:35 CET | Room XXIV
• Snapshots series on practical approaches and tools on HRDD for business: Facing current and forthcoming regulations: A new collaboratively developed HREDD maturity assessment tool for companies | WG on Business and Human Rights & Proforest | 17:35 – 18:00 CET | Room XXIV
• Making the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Work for All | Parallel Event | EU & UNDP | 18:10 – 20:25 CET | Building H

Wednesday, 27 November

• BHR informal dialogues: Intergenerational Exchange on Business and Human Rights | 9:00 – 9:40 CET | Room XX
• BHR informal dialogues: Responsible Investment | 9:00 – 9:40 CET | Room XIX
• Progress and Opportunities to Strengthen BHR in the Middle East and North Africa Region | WG on Business and Human Rights | 10:00 – 11:20 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshot series on stakeholder engagement: Nothing without us about us – putting rightsholders’ representation at the heart of Human Rights due diligence in food supply chains | WG on Business and Human Rights, Oxfam, Women on Farms Project (South Africa) & Ethical Trading Initiative | 11:20 – 11:45 CET | Room XXIV
• “Smart Mix” in Action: Progress and Opportunities for Advancing Business and Human Rights in Africa | WG on Business and Human Rights, OHCHR, UNDP & FES | 11:40 – 13:00 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Snapshot series on stakeholder engagement: Beyond ‘do no harm’ to shared prosperity: using a “smart mix” of measures to ensure a fast and fair energy transition | WG on Business and Human Rights & Human Rights Resource Center | 11:50 – 12:15 CET | Room XXIV
• Networking hubs: Indigenous Peoples | 13:20 – 14:40 CET | Room XIX
• Key developments in the WEOG region over the past year | WG on Business and Human Rights & Danish Institute for Human Rights | 15:00 – 16:20 CET | Room XIX & Online
• Closing plenary | 16:40 – 18:00 CET | Room XX

Highlights

25 November | Opening Plenary

25 November | A smart mix of measures to leverage the contribution of financial actors to a just transition

25 November | Raising the Bar through Climate Change Litigation

26 November | Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of large-scale land acquisition

27 November | Closing Plenary

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.

Links

• 13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights | Main Page
• Business, Environmental Human Rights, and the Role of Geneva | GEN
• Human Rights and Environment | GEN