The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) were unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011. Their aim was to identify and clarify policies and standards for business and human rights. While they do not have legally binding force, the political consensus behind their endorsement established them as the most authoritative global framework to address adverse business impacts on all human rights.
In this episode, Sara Carnegie, Director of the IBA's Legal Policy and Research Unit (LPRU), and Maria Pia Sacco, LPRU Senior Project Lawyer, speak to Professor John Ruggie, the author of the UNGPs, who was appointed by Kofi Annan as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for business and human rights in 2005. Together, they discuss the impact of the UNGPs and future developments in the area of business and sustainability.