You can discuss issues raised in the videos through this blog.

Human rights module, June 2010 - summary. Watch video

Minimising risk

Mr Kell

Mr Sherman

Georg Kell, Executive Director of UNGC, and John Sherman, Co-Chair of the IBA CSR Committee, discuss some of the aims of the video and of corporate sustainability – including helping lawyers to identify problems and take proactive steps to minimise the significant legal risks which can arise from a lack of preparation and management. Risks range from community or political opposition leading to loss of legal licence to operate, to reputational damage, to costly litigation and other financial implications.

Respect for human rights

Navanethem Pillay

Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stresses that business can have an impact on all human rights, both positively and negatively, and therefore businesses have a responsibility not only to comply with relevant laws, but to respect international instruments and make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses. It is good for business too:

‘Effective incorporation of human rights considerations into business practice assists with business performance and with a business’s social licence to operate.’

Lawyers’ vital role

Caroline Rees

Caroline Rees, Director of the Governance and Accountability Program of the CSR Initiative of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, states that governance gaps have enabled human rights violations and issues to go sometimes unacknowledged and often unsanctioned. Lawyers can play a vital role with respect to business and human rights, helping to manage risks to guard against harming individuals, the company or society.

Protect, Respect, Remedy

Professor John Ruggie

Professor John Ruggie (Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on business and human rights)’s ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy’ framework has been implemented to educate companies and help establish an internationally accepted standard of conduct. Firstly, there is a state duty to protect human rights. Next, a corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and to have systems in place to demonstrate this both internally and externally. Strategies are required for remedy when things go wrong, for example setting up voluntary grievance mechanisms to deal with issues before they escalate, which can also save money:

‘Prevention is better than cure. It’s also cheaper than cure. Most of our measures are preventative. Is it cheaper to set up a grievance mechanism or to spend 12 years in an Alien Tort Statute case?’

Knowing and showing

Professor Ruggie addresses the question of whether a company being open and transparent in discovering issues regarding their operation and human rights could be vulnerable to attacks from adversaries. In his view, as with all things there is risk, but the alternatives could be far worse. Again, a proactive approach is recommended – rather than responding to external naming and shaming, establish a system which allows the company to know which problems to address, then to show what steps are being taken to solve them.

A proactive approach and selling the concept to management

Mark Nordstrom

Mark Nordstrom, Senior Labor & Employment Counsel, General Electric Company, echoes the idea of being proactive in getting to grips with human rights issues as increasingly work is done in emerging markets where legal frameworks supporting human rights may be less present. On the subject of convincing management of the need for proactive business and human rights strategies, Mr Nordstrom explains that he examined other companies which have unwittingly encountered problems both legal and reputational because of a lack of adequate preparation, and presented this to management. It is crucial to educate management on human rights issues, making them comfortable with the concepts and explaining the benefits.

He and fellow interviewee Debra Valentine, Group executive of Global Legal Affairs, Rio Tinto, also note that many existing company policies can be built upon, so it is not as daunting an undertaking as might be thought.

Voluntary principles

Debra Valentine

Ms Valentine advocates compliance with voluntary commitments, essentially treating them as legal obligations; documenting them, communicating them internally and externally and integrating them into compliance systems.

Ms Valentine discusses Rio Tinto’s human rights policies which make it easier to protect communities, employees and mine security. 

Initiatives

Other initiatives Ms Valentine mentions include performing a communities diagnostic at regular intervals for all mining operations, issuing a human rights guide providing practical advice for people in the field, and producing a gender guide to ensure, among other things, that women would be involved in the decision making on mining projects. These are designed to bring benefits to the business and the community as a whole.