ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with business and human rights and discusses the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the move toward holding corporate actors accountable to protect the rights of people. It focuses on the United Nations’ (UN) approaches to determining business responsibility in relation to human rights, including attempts to create binding norms and voluntary standards. The chapter also focuses on a case study of the Philippines’ “Carbon Majors” petition, under which petitioners are seeking to hold businesses accountable for contributing to climate change and its severe impacts. The UN has worked on two main approaches to establish the responsibility of corporate actors: the UN Global Compact and the UN Draft Norms. The International Finance Corporation’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards build an important part of the Corporation’s commitment to sustainable development and are relevant for all projects financed by the World Bank Group.
