Overview of CSR and BHR debates -­ Towards a Legally Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights

Abstract

We are living in a globalized economy, in which companies operate everywhere in the world. The transnational operations of business actors have been proved to often give rise to adverse human rights impacts. However, the protection of human rights against corporations’ abuses is far from an easy task. The field of business and human rights is shaped by the imbalance of interest and responsibility. Corporations receive a variety of rights under international law, they do not equally hold a corresponding set of duties when it comes to the protection of human rights.¹ Under the public pressure, many initiatives have been created in order to bridge this gap.

¹ Pierre Thielbörger and Tobias Ackermann A Treaty on Enforcing Human Rights Against Business: Closing the Loophole or Getting Stuck in the Loop? (Indiana University Press, Indiana, 2017) vol 24 at [43-­79].