UN Forum on Business & Human Rights, Geneva
The Investor Alliance for Human Rights was represented by Anita Dorett, Director and Rebecca DeWinter-Schmitt, Associate Director at the 13th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva from 25 to 27 November. We organized and moderated a session on Monday, Nov 25th: A smart mix of measures to leverage the contribution of financial actors to a just transition", together with PRI and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. More details on the session and speakers can be found here. The recording of the session on UN TV can be found here.
As you know, the UN Forum is the foremost global event for multi-stakeholder networking and dialogue on the latest initiatives to promote the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles. We encouraged investors to attend the UN Forum as the topic of investors and human rights remained high on this year’s Forum agenda.
Some Forum events/side and post events that we and our members participated in and spoke at include the following:
Monday, November 25th:
Networking hub: Financial institutions at 1:20 pm CET a space is to facilitate a collaborative peer learning space for investors, promoting direct engagement with one another and fostering meaningful dialogue. This session focused on exploring responsible investment practices and their impact on human rights.
A smart mix of measures to leverage the contribution of financial actors to a just transition at 3 pm CET, a panel discussion co-hosted by the Investor Alliance, PRI, and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights to examine how financial incentives and regulatory measures for businesses and investors, undertaken in conjunction with rightsholders and stakeholders, can enable a just transition. Watch a recording of this session on UN TV.
Tuesday, November 26th:
Is the arms industry exempt from human rights due diligence? at 10 am CET: an in-person session that shed light on frameworks, which taken together, can contribute to ensuring adequate human rights due diligence, responsible arms trade, and access to remedy for victims. Watch a recording of this session on UN TV, featuring Storebrand Asset Management Senior ESG Legal Advisor Tulia Machado-Helland.
Role of business regarding the right to development: trends from Corporate Human Rights Benchmark at 2 pm CET: a side-event hosted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Development, the World Benchmarking Alliance that aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of trends from five years of the CHRB on corporate respect for human rights across 230 companies in five high-risk sectors.
Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the context of land acquisition at 3pm CET: An in-person session engaging relevant stakeholders in discussing how land acquisitions have been or should be integrated into businesses human rights due diligence processes across their value chains. Watch a recording of this session on UN TV, featuring Storebrand Asset Management Senior ESG Legal Advisor Tulia Machado-Helland.
Wednesday, November 27th:
Business and Human Rights Informal Dialogues, Responsible Investment at 9 am CET: an informal and interactive multi-stakeholder dialogue open to all stakeholders participating in the Forum and designed to spark collaborative thinking and solution-oriented discussions on the impact of investment on human rights and business practices.
Thursday, November 28th:
Business and Conflict Community of Practice (CoP) Annual Workshop: The Investor Alliance together with several of our investor members participated in this workshop focused on identifying and scaling up good practices for businesses and investors in conflict-affected and high-risk areas in an era of geopolitical uncertainty.
You can find the Forum agenda linked here.