Climate Change as a Business and Human Rights Issue: A Proposal for a Moral Typology

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Kristian Høyer TOFT
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Rights Issue ◽  
Forward Looking

AbstractTo explore the emerging and contested issue of business and human rights in the area of climate change, this article provides a critical discussion from the viewpoint of moral philosophy. A novel typology of businesses’ human rights duties (‘duty’ is considered synonymous with ‘responsibility’ here) is proposed. It claims that duties are both forward- and backward-looking. Cases of human rights litigation seeking remedy for climate-related harms are backward-looking, and duties should be determined on the basis of proportion of historical emissions, culpable knowledge and counter-acts to abate climate harms. Businesses’ forward-looking duties, however, depend on their power, privilege, interest and collective abilities. The typology is then assessed against the background of recent legal principles and instruments. It is concluded that moral duties of business reach beyond mere respect for human rights and national jurisdictions in the context of climate change.

scholarly journals Human rights v. Insufficient climate action: The Urgenda case

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Leijten
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Court Of Appeals ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
European Court ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Ex Post Facto ◽  
Rights Issue

Climate change is a human rights issue, but what exactly can courts require States to do in this regard? This contribution discusses the Dutch Urgenda case, in which the Court of Appeals recently found a violation of Articles 2 (right to life) and 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered the State to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020. Looking at the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on environmental issues, as well as the nature of positive obligations, it appears that Urgenda involves a more abstract situation and a more precise positive obligation than is usually the case in human rights adjudication. Because ex post facto complaints are no solution, and in light of the growing number of Urgenda-like cases pending before (international) courts, efforts need to be made to ensure that human rights `fit' climate change cases and courts can provide effective protection in this regard.

Domestic Trade Policies in an Interconnected World

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-171
Author(s):  
Mathias Risse ◽  
Gabriel Wollner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Trade Policies ◽  
Domestic Trade ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Culture Education

This chapter explores particular domestic obligations of states in the domain of trade, including obligations and prerogatives to protect their labor force and industries from competition and obligations that arise in the context of dealing with authoritarian regimes. The grounds-of-justice approach dilutes contrasts between domestic and foreign policy. Governments must attend to matters of domestic justice, as well as make appropriate contributions to the global advancement of human rights and to trade justice. There are additional duties of justice and other moral duties that apply to states in domains such as immigration, climate change, or protection of future generations. The state has obligations to protect its labor force and look after its vulnerable citizens. But it also has duties towards people elsewhere. The challenge is to reap gains of cooperation in trade, culture, education, environmental protection, among others, while respecting the world’s many local peculiarities and making sure those gains do not accrue only to a few. The grounds-of-justice approach offers guidance for how to pursue these tasks.

scholarly journals Business, Human Rights and Climate Due Diligence: Understanding the Responsibility of Banks

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8391
Author(s):  
Chiara Macchi ◽  
Nadia Bernaz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Corporate Responsibility ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Normative Standard ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

Under the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), banks, like all businesses, have a responsibility to respect human rights and to carry out human rights due diligence. Although climate due diligence is not explicitly included in the UNGPs, tackling an enterprise’s direct and indirect climate change impacts is arguably a dimension of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights and should form part of the human rights due diligence process. At present, it is unclear how such responsibility applies to banks, whose contribution to climate change is mostly indirect. This article addresses the research question: how should the law be interpreted to form a coherent climate due diligence standard for banks? To address it, the article first maps out the climate responsibility of banks under international soft law standards and assesses privately developed guidance. It then elucidates the emerging concept of climate due diligence, reading climate change responsibilities into the now well-established corporate responsibility to respect human rights as authoritatively elaborated in the UNGPs. Finally, it explains how such normative standard applies to banks and unpacks the key elements that a bank’s climate due diligence process should include.

scholarly journals Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and Duties of Corporations: Rejecting the False Dichotomies

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41
Author(s):  
Danwood CHIRWA ◽  
Nojeem AMODU
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Current State ◽  
Formal Level ◽  
Development Goals

AbstractThe attention that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has given to public–private partnerships in solving global concerns including poverty, sustainable development and climate change has shed new light on the question of duties of corporations in relation to economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights. At the same time, objections to recognizing the obligations of corporations in relation to human rights in general and to ESC rights in particular have continued to be made. At the formal level, these objections are reflected in new distinctions such as between the duties of states and responsibilities of corporations, between primary duties of states and secondary duties of corporations, and between obligations of compliance and obligations of performance. All these objections and distinctions are untenable and serve only to stultify the discourse on business and human rights. The current state of human rights is dynamic, not static; commodious, not stale. There is ample space in it to accommodate duties of corporations regarding ESC rights.

scholarly journals The Climate Change Dimension of Business and Human Rights: The Gradual Consolidation of a Concept of ‘Climate Due Diligence’

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Chiara MACCHI
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Business Process ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Human Rights Due Diligence

Abstract This article makes the case for a ‘holistic’ approach to human rights due diligence, arguing that such a standard must be interpreted in the light of mutually reinforcing principles of environmental law, climate law and human rights law. Through a review of emerging climate change-related litigation, it shows how a concept of ‘climate due diligence’ is gradually consolidating. Building on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the article explores climate due diligence both as a standard of conduct and as a business process, presenting its main features. It argues that corporations should integrate climate due diligence into their processes and policies to be best prepared for likely regulatory and judicial developments, such as the upcoming European Union’s regulation on human rights and environmental due diligence.

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