Published in:Leuven Centre for Global Bovernance Studies Working Paper ; No. 67
Extent:
1 Online-Ressource (36 p)
Language:
English
DOI:
10.2139/ssrn.1878975
Identifier:
Origination:
Footnote:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments July 5, 2011 erstellt
Description:
This paper intends to provide insights as to whether institutional investors, through the framework proposed by the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie, can promote business respect for human rights worldwide. In this regard, the paper explains why investors are not currently paying attention to human rights and offers some practical proposals on how this situation can be addressed. The paper begins by describing the role institutional investors could play in helping ensure business respect for human rights. It identifies the central obstacle to them playing this role as the lack of consensus and clarity around the human rights expectations of companies and, specifically, the absence of an agreed normative framework against which corporate human rights performance can be assessed. It argues that the framework proposed by the Special Representative does not effectively address this shortcoming. The paper then sets out the authors' views on what an effective accountability framework for business and human rights would look like, most notably in relation to the potential role of institutional investors. Finally, it considers the implications of the authors' proposals in the context of the recommendations that have been made by the Special Representative