The third annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva brought together over 2,000 participants from business, civil society, government and academia on 1 – 3 December. This year’s event discussed trends and challenges in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights (UNGPs), showcased new standards on eliminating forced labour and focussed on access to remedy and embedding the UNGPs in national and regional mechanisms.

Vanessa Zimmerman, Director, Global Compact Network Australia and Group Human Rights Advisor, Rio Tinto, participated in and spoke at the Forum. We will be reporting back to members on highlights and outcomes from the Forum shortly.

In the meantime, this article from Amol Mehra, Director, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable offers the following key takeaways from the Forum:

1. The needle is moving, with increasing government engagement and action on business and human rights.
2. The dialogue is becoming substantive, with the real, thorny issues being discussed.
3. Business is not afraid, recognise their key role, and the improvements they need to make.

There is increasing momentum towards and comfort in relation to a binding treaty on business and human rights

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