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Corporate Responses to Turbulent Times: Backsliding or Staying the Course

Event Details

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On June 24, 2026, the Investor Alliance for Human Rights hosted a members only investor briefing on the Business and Human Rights Centre's (BHRC) latest report, Retreat or respect? Diverging corporate paths on human rights in a time of turbulence, which explores how leading U.S. companies are responding to the rapidly evolving business and human rights landscape. 

In today’s turbulent context, U.S. companies have a choice: to respect human rights and support civic space or contribute to their erosion in the U.S. and globally. Rollback and silence are not a neutral choice. At stake is a quarter century of hard-won but insufficient progress that is now under threat as human rights risks intensify.

This challenge is particularly relevant for long-term, sustainable investors. Even with the anti-ESG and anti-human rights backlash, more durable opposing forces and pressures, including regulation and stakeholder expectations, continue to demand respect for human rights as risks persist. And for companies, it can be costly to rebuild processes and teams when political tides change.

Against this backdrop, the session delved into the findings of BHRC research on how top US companies’ are navigating their commitment to human rights in this political moment, which was followed by an open discussion covering the implications for long-term, sustainable investors and how these findings can be applied to due diligence, company engagement, and shareholder advocacy. Despite anti-ESG and anti-human rights backlash, more durable countervailing forces, including regulation and stakeholder expectations, continue to demand respect for human rights as related risks persist. 

Speakers included:

  • Caroline Boden, Director of Shareholder Advocacy, Mercy Investment Services

  • Chloe Cole, U.S. Business and Human Rights Senior Researcher, Business and Human Rights Centre

  • Bennett Freeman, Former Senior Vice President for Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Investments

If you are an Investor Alliance member and interested in viewing a recording of the session and receiving the session materials, please contact Rebecca De-Winter Schmitt and Anna Frader-Stefanovic.