Business, human rights and the climate crisis - dialogue 2021

A brief welcome from Catie Shavin, Director, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) and an overview of the two-day event.

Bringing together people and planet - why it matters to business

Moderated by Ron Popper, CEO, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI)

Speakers:

• Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
• Surya Deva, Member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
• Brian Sullivan, Executive Director, IPIECA

A short coffee and screen break.

Ensuring a just energy transition

Session organised in collaboration with GBI member, Trafigura

The transition to a net-zero economy raises questions about how we source vital materials to enable decarbonisation at scale.

Renewable power will be key - requiring a significant increase in the supply of aluminium, copper, nickel, cobalt and other metals and minerals. But we need to ensure that as we make this transition, the supply of these essential minerals does not come at an intolerable cost to people and communities - including, in particular, workers in these value chains.

We need to ensure no one is left behind.

During this session, we will unpack the human rights risks and challenges presented by the energy transition, and explore emerging policies, practices and approaches to better manage these risks to ensure a just transition.

Moderated by John Morrison, CEO, Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Advisor, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI).

Speakers:

• Isabel Blanco, Senior Energy and Environmental Economist, EBRD
• Jillene Connors Belopolsky, Chief of Staff, Clean Cooking Alliance
• James Nicholson, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Trafigura
• Saad Rahim, Chief Economist, Trafigura
• Mark Robinson, Executive Director, EITI International Secretariat

The changing legal and normative landscape - what's expected of business

Expectations of business when it comes to managing both risks to people and risks to the planet have evolved and strengthened significantly in recent years.

Stakeholders now expect companies to play a role in achieving targets set under the Paris Agreement, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. Human rights and environmental due diligence is increasingly becoming a matter of hard legal compliance. And advocates are continuing to explore, creatively, options to pursue legal liability for corporate involvement in human rights and environmental harms.

What does all this mean for business? And how aligned are changing expectations regarding human rights risks on the one hand, and environmental and climate-related risks on the other?

During this informative session, we will explore in a practical way what business practitioners need to know about this changing legal and normative landscape.

Moderated by Catie Shavin, Director, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI).

Speakers:

• Thomas Voland, Partner, Clifford Chance
• Anna Triponel, Strategic Advisor, Triponel Consulting
• Stephanie Venuti, Policy Advisor and Legal Expert - Responsible Business Conduct, OECD

A short coffee and screen break.

Driving engagement and practice | What business can expect

The challenges presented by the need to bring a human rights lens to responses to the climate crisis are very real, and require action and collaboration from diverse stakeholder groups.

So who's doing what?

We will use this session to hear about some key initiatives designed to drive and support advances in business practice as well as collective action. We will also consider what else is likely to be on the horizon.

Moderated by Catie Shavin, Director, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights.

Speakers:

• Phil Bloomer, Executive Director, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
• John Morrison, CEO, Institute for Human Rights and Business
• Vicky Sins, Lead - Decarbonisation and Energy Transformation, World Benchmarking Alliance
• Thomas Tayler, Senior Manager, Sustainable Finance Centre for Excellence, Aviva Investors