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UN Photo2024 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum Opening Plenary The Remedy Blueprint: Bridging gaps and accelerating access
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02:02:34
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Summary
The 2024 UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum will convene stakeholders to explore what solutions are still needed to realize access to effective remedy and justice in Asia and the Pacific. The Forum will focus on the following three parallel tracks: • Domestic remedy. Access to effective remedy at the national level is crucial to promote the rule of law and corporate accountability.
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The right to effective remedy is an internationally recognized human right, enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments. In the Asia-Pacific region, effective access to remedy for business-related human rights violations remains a significant challenge. While on the one hand, there have been many years of advocacy and engagement to ensure access to remedy through policy and regulatory developments, as well as through operational-level grievance mechanisms, such efforts have been largely insufficient.
These challenges are compounded by multifaceted development challenges facing the region – from the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity and nature loss to widening inequalities and deepening polarization, as well as the shrinking space for participation and dialogue. Widespread discrimination continues to prevent marginalized populations from accessing justice and obtaining redress for grievances. Women, children and young people, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, migrant workers and displaced persons, among others, are some of the rights holders often disproportionately affected by business-related human rights violations, and often the least able to access remedy.
To ensure access to remedy, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) acknowledge that greater access to effective judicial mechanisms is required, along with non-judicial mechanisms as an essential complement and supplement. However, "many – if not most – of the barriers in accessing both judicial and non-judicial mechanisms identified in the Guiding Principles still largely remain," including legal, procedural, institutional, socioeconomic, psychological and safety barriers.
Addressing the multifaceted nature of access to remedy requires transformative changes. Since access to remedy cannot be decontextualized from the strength of the rule of law in a country, States should develop a full, smart mix of measures with emphasis on adopting enforceable human rights protections, strengthening policy coherence, and addressing the State-business nexus to counter power imbalances.
The lack of implementation of Pillar III of the UNGPs, which deals with access to remedy, represents not only represent a compliance gap but also missed opportunities for businesses to manage risks and unlock new avenues for growth. Businesses, including both companies and financial institutions, should develop operational-level grievance mechanisms and expand related initiatives in scope, scale and effectiveness. Proactively remediating impacts aligns with human rights responsibilities and transnational regulatory demands and risks, while also building a foundation of trust and engagement with workers, local communities and environmental and human rights defenders. This, in turn, opens opportunities for innovation, collaboration and partnerships, strengthening business competitiveness in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world.
In this regard, there is a need to explore practical and innovative approaches to remedy and enhance the effectiveness of grievance mechanisms to ensure they are contextually appropriate, relevant to specific business sectors and designed with input from rights holders.
About the 6th UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum