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GBI's compendium of insights from our What "good" looks like series

The What “good” looks like: Compendium of practice-based insights brings together all of the guidance briefings in our series into a single, practical resource. It distils learning from more than 15 years of peer exchange with multinational companies implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and is designed to support both business practitioners and policymakers who want to understand what credible human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) looks like in practice.

“The What ‘good’ looks like series can help businesses to navigate a period of uncertainty created by legislation, by focusing on existing frameworks and on understanding what their peers are doing to implement human rights and environmental due diligence.” - Heidi Hautala, GBI Special Advisor and former Vice-President of the European Parliament

The compendium sets out what “good” looks like across the HREDD cycle – from governance and embedding, to identifying and addressing risks and impacts, engaging suppliers as partners, conducting meaningful stakeholder engagement, strengthening grievance mechanisms and remedy, and undertaking heightened due diligence in high-risk and conflict-affected contexts. It focuses on realistic, outcome-oriented approaches that different kinds of companies can adopt, and on how policymakers can design regulations that are aligned with the UNGPs and OECD Guidelines while remaining implementable in business operating environments.

Alongside company examples and reflections, each briefing in the compendium includes key considerations for policymakers. These sections draw on company practice to highlight how regulation can incentivise continuous improvement, support prioritisation without exclusion, and reinforce the central roles of stakeholder engagement and access to remedy in effective HREDD.

Access the compendium here

Watch the live launch of the compendium
with Heidi Hautala and Sophia Areias at the ICRC on 24 November 2025

Introducing the series

Practical guidance and knowing what works, and what doesn’t, is essential. With over 15 years of experience working directly with companies, GBI is uniquely positioned to support the advancement of human rights in business through the sharing of practical, real-world insights. We are pleased to introduce our new GBI What "good" looks like series, designed for businesses and policymakers, to provide actionable resources and support. 

This series of practical guidance briefings, podcasts and webinars is focussed on sharing existing good practice of risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence for companies and policymakers, and exploring what policymakers should consider when it comes to mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.

In this video, GBI Director for External Engagement and Informing Policy, Sophia Areias, explains what the series is about, who it's for, and why it's crucial in the current context. Access the guidance briefings, podcasts and webinars below. 

Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence

In increasingly complex and unstable contexts, companies face heightened risks of being linked to serious human rights abuses. This briefing explores what heightened human rights due diligence looks like in practice, from identifying when it’s required to integrating conflict-sensitive approaches, planning responsible exits, and engaging stakeholders safely. It offers practical guidance for companies and policymakers navigating high-risk environments. 

“Heightened due diligence is not an extra burden; it’s a form of insurance. In volatile contexts,
it protects both people and performance by helping companies see risks before they become crises.”
- GBI Senior Advisor Gerald Pachoud 

Access the guidance briefing here

What is Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence?

Listen to Gerald Pachoud's explanation of heightened human rights due diligence.

Grievance mechanisms and remedy

GBI’s guidance briefing on grievance mechanisms and remedy shares practice-based insights and examples of how companies can design user-centred, UNGP-aligned mechanisms and deliver effective remedy across operations and value chains. It sets out what “good” looks like, from maintaining multiple, context-appropriate channels and embedding clear governance, to focusing on outcomes that restore people and prevent recurrence, and using leverage with peers and partners when impacts sit deeper in the chain, and contains recommendations for policymakers to ensure regulation works well in practice. 

“Effective operational grievance mechanisms remain vital for companies to meet their responsibilities to respect human rights.” - Jon Drimmer, GBI Senior Advisor.

Access the guidance briefing here

Webinar on grievance mechanisms and access to remedy

Coinciding with this briefing, GBI hosted a webinar to explore practical approaches to making mechanisms legitimate, accessible and rights-compatible, and to share examples of remedy in action and recommendations for policy makers. GBI Director Sophia Areias was joined by Jon Drimmer, Senior Advisor, GBI, Melita Shirley, Principal, Global Human Rights & Social Performance, BHP and Tony Khaw, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility & Human Rights, NXP Semiconductors. 

Engaging suppliers

GBI’s guidance briefing on Engaging Suppliers shares practice-based insights on how companies can work with suppliers as partners in human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD). It sets out what “good” looks like across the supplier lifecycle - from pre-qualification and tendering through contracting - and how to build capacity (including for SMEs), move beyond audits, enable safe worker voice, use leverage to prevent and mitigate harms, and support effective remedy when impacts occur.

Engaging suppliers briefing cover “When companies treat suppliers as partners, it can lead to stronger human rights outcomes for workers and ensure more resilient and long-term supply chains.” — Anita Ramasastry, GBI Senior Advisor

As companies implement risk-based due diligence, many of the most severe risks lie beyond tier one. Early, consistent engagement — grounded in clear expectations, practical incentives and two-way learning — helps companies identify, prevent and address adverse impacts while strengthening resilient, long-term supply relationships.

Access the guidance briefing here

GBI Conversations Podcast — Engaging suppliers

To compliment the briefing, you can access a practice-focussed discussion featuring Anita Ramasastry, Rishi Sher Singh and Sophia Areias on partnering with suppliers to improve outcomes for people and strengthen due diligence in real supply-chain contexts.

Access the podcast here or below

Identifying and addressing human rights risks and impacts

GBI’s guidance briefing on identifying and addressing human rights risks shares practice-based insights about what companies are already doing in terms of their risk-based due diligence. The guidance briefing also shares considerations for policymakers who are developing mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. The accompanying webinar,  which took place on 24 June 2025, provides further discussion on approaches, methods and considerations. 

Effective human rights due diligence requires companies to identify and address human rights risks and impacts. To do that, you have to walk in someone else’s shoes — and keep walking. That’s what meaningful human rights due diligence looks like. — Gerald Pachoud, GBI Senior Advisor

Identifying and addressing the risks to people is essential to human rights due diligence. This guidance briefing shares insights from practice about what identifying and addressing human rights risks should look like, followed by examples from practice about how companies approach identifying and addressing human rights risks across their value chain. Lastly, the briefing shares considerations from policymakers about how to approach requiring companies to identify and address human rights risks as part of mandatory measures.

Access the guidance briefing here

Identifying human rights risks

Webinar on identifying and addressing human rights risks and impacts

On 24 June 2025, coinciding with the official launch of the guidance briefing on "Identifying and addressing human rights risks and impacts", GBI Director Sophia Areias was joined by Gerald Pachoud (GBI), Louise Herring (AIM Progress), and Anees Mohammed (Siemens) to share further practice-based insights and examples from companies about how they approach identifying and addressing their human rights risks.

Access the video here or on GBI's Vimeo stream

Embedding human rights in governance processes

Our guidance briefing on embedding human rights in governance processes shares practice-based insights and examples of how companies are embedding human rights, as well as considerations for policymakers. The accompanying podcast with GBI CEO, Ron Popper and GBI Director, Sophia Areias, shares additional insights and recommendations for policymakers.

GBI's guidance briefing on embedding human rights in governance processes

Robust human rights policies, embedded in governance processes and daily practice, are essential if a company wants to ensure it meets its responsibility to respect human rights, as well as regulatory and reporting requirements and standards. The responsibility to respect human rights requires a top-down approach, driven throughout a company and embedded in strategy and policies, business decision-making processes and daily activities with business partners.

A consistent approach and performance are a must for the continued health and prospects of an enterprise, as well as the people impacted by its activities. Having good governance in place is an indication that a company is serious about human rights performance and reporting. But it is only an indication; a wide range of stakeholders – from regulators and investors through to affected communities – will hold a company accountable against its own policies and performance, as well as national and international laws and standards. – Ron Popper, CEO, GBI

Embedding human rights in governance processes thumbnail

Access the guidance briefing on embedding human rights into governance processes here

GBI Conversations Podcast - Embedding Human Rights in Governance Processes

This podcast accompanies our guidance briefing on "Embedding Human Rights into Governance Processes", with further insights and examples from practice of how businesses can truly and effectively integrate human rights into their core governance processes. It also provides practice-based recommendations to policymakers working on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.

The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights · Episode 12 - Embedding human rights in governance processes

Meaningful stakeholder engagement

This guidance briefing shares practice-based insights and examples of how companies approach meaningful stakeholder engagement. It also includes considerations for policymakers on how to include meaningful stakeholder engagement in mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation. The accompanying webinar shares additional examples and insights from business practitioners as well as recommendations for policymakers.

GBI's guidance briefing on meaningful stakeholder engagement

Meaningful stakeholder engagement Meaningful stakeholder engagement in human rights due diligence, especially with affected rightsholders, is not a tick-box exercise - it is a process of listening, learning, and acting with accountability. It requires creating spaces where rightsholders are heard, their concerns shape decisions, and their dignity is upheld in every step of the process. Meaningful engagement rewards companies with better information for better decisions. But meaningful engagement requires an investment of time, energy and resources, constant learning and adaptation. The implementation of business and human rights regulations should recognise and reward these good practices. - Andrea Shemberg

Access the guidance briefing on meaningful stakeholder engagement here

Access the webinar on meaningful stakeholder engagement

On 22 April 2025, GBI hosted a webinar as part of its series of practical briefings and webinars on What "good" looks like. Key insights and takeaways are available here. Speakers included:

•    Linn Aakvik, Sustainable Development Manager, Hydro
•    Lauren Brandi, Human Rights Specialist, Hydro
•    Yann Wyss, Global Head, Social Impact and Human Rights, Nestlé  
•    Andrea Shemberg, Chair & Senior Advisor, GBI
•    Sophia Areias, Director for External Engagement & Informing Policy, GBI
 


Access more practice-based insights from GBI's work

on the GBI Business Practice Portal and the GBI Conversations podcast series