This week, the 14th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (the Forum) convened in Geneva, addressing the central topic, “Accelerating action on business and human rights amidst crises and transformations.” More than 4,600 in-person and online participants from governments, businesses, finance, academia and civil society discussed how to reinforce respect for human rights in a rapidly changing political and legal landscape. The message from the Forum was clear: proactive and strategic engagement with human rights is essential for long-term success.
A Challenging Landscape for Human Rights and Business
Rarely has the context for human rights and business been more challenging. Participants noted that rising global conflicts, shrinking civic space and political and regulatory uncertainty threaten progress on implementing human rights in business practices. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned in his keynote that unregulated technological advancement, insufficient climate transition action and the rollback of human rights regulation worldwide pose profound risks to both businesses and vulnerable communities. Evidently, the rapid rise of new technologies, especially AI – despite the promise of more efficient due diligence – poses new risks including bias and discrimination.
Among other things, discussions on strengthening accountability for environmental harm underlined emerging calls to recognise severe environmental damage as an international crime of “ecocide”. For companies, these developments translate into heightened supply chain vulnerability, greater operational uncertainty and increasing accountability for human rights and environmental impacts, at a time when standards, regulation and enforcement are evolving at a rapid pace.
From Compliance to Competitive Advantage: Reframing the Business Case
A central theme of the Forum was the strength of the business case for robust human rights implementation, not only risk mitigation but creating business value. A recent study presented by the Council of Europe, “Human Rights and Competitiveness: Reframing the Business Case in Europe”, argues that companies embedding human rights into their core business models are better positioned for long-term success and resilience through stronger brands, more engaged employees, more stable supplier relationships and greater trust from investors and consumers.
The Forum also highlighted a clear trend towards increased litigation and enforcement. Companies face significant legal and financial risk if they fail to effectively manage human rights impacts across their supply chains. Navigating this environment requires a solid understanding of evolving legal frameworks, corporate and human rights law and a strategic, forward-looking approach to risk management.
Key Action Areas for Businesses
Discussions revolved around several priority areas for businesses, including:
Harnessing AI responsibly: AI can support risk detection and supply chain transparency, but can also foster bias, discrimination and opaque decision-making. Companies are well-advised to establish clear governance, conduct regular audits and ensure critical oversight, particularly in high-visibility areas such as public tenders and key supplier relationships.
Strengthening labour rights: Workers in vulnerable contexts, such as migrant labour, informal work, other forms of unregistered employment and workers in climate-affected regions need to be further protected. For businesses, this means looking beyond tier-one suppliers to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions and respect for collective bargaining throughout the value chain.
Using certification systems wisely: Certification, verification and audit schemes can support implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, particularly with access to remedy. They can help identify issues requiring remediation and confirm whether corrective action has taken place. However, they should be combined with ongoing stakeholder engagement and effective oversight and monitoring.
Turning Challenges into Strategic Advantage
While the Forum pinpointed significant challenges for businesses and governments, it also highlighted the opportunities for positive impact. Addressing conflict, climate and technological change will require coordinated policies and commitment to inclusion and stakeholder engagement, supported by clear regulatory frameworks. Ongoing political debates like the proposed Omnibus simplification measures at EU level aim to ease compliance burdens, but can also create burdens through legal uncertainty.
For businesses, the takeaway was that integrating human rights and environmental due diligence into core strategy delivers tangible benefits: lower litigation risk, stronger relationships with regulators and stakeholders, better employee engagement and higher reputational value. Investors increasingly view human rights performance as a proxy for good governance and risk management. Far from being a barrier, respecting human rights is seen as a driver of competitiveness and resilience. Christine Kaufmann, Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, reminded participants that even small, targeted changes in procurement, production or facility management can lead to significant human rights benefits. As businesses navigate the push and pull of political changes, consultation with rights-holders, strategic adaptation to evolving regulation and a forward-looking commitment to responsible practices are likely to be important success factors.
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