Time:       8am PST; 11am EDT; 4pm BST; 5pm CEST

Join us for this virtual event, sponsored by the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association. Register by emailing Sarah.Mealing@cliffordchance.com.

In 2011, following the unanimous endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“UNGPs”) by the UN Human Rights Council, its chief architect John Ruggie declared “the end of the beginning.”
 
He acknowledged that the UNGPs were not intended as a solution to all human rights problems, but rather as a common framework and set of normative standards. 
 
A decade on, a new approach has emerged. The European Union is in the last stage of negotiations on a directive making human rights and environmental due diligence mandatory; Germany,  Norway and France have passed similar laws in recent years, and the U.S., Canada and Mexico have implemented bans on imports of products made with forced labor, with other jurisdictions considering similar bans.
 
Join the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association (“BHRLA”) for an “Oxford-style” debate, on one of the business and human rights field’s central questions:  whether emerging mandatory human rights due diligence measures represent a step forward, or a step back, in efforts to promote business respect for human rights.
 
Do these initiatives represent the “end of the beginning” in the evolution of business and human rights—marking the next stage in the field’s progress—or are they “the beginning of the end”, signaling a narrower,  less holistic approach to advancing business respect for human rights – and one that is less likely to prevent and address adverse impacts on people?
 
Ten debaters, representing commercial and in house legal counsel, consultancies, civil society and academia, will tackle this question in an Oxford-style debate.
 
Our moderator is Marti Flacks, Director, Human Rights Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
 
FOR the proposition that the CSDDD is the “end of the beginning”: 

1. Sarah Altschuller, Global Head, Business and Human Rights, Verizon

2. Jon Drimmer, Partner, Paul Hastings LLP

3. Dunstan Allison-Hope, Vice President, Human Rights, Business for Social Responsibility 

4. Marian Ingrams, Director, OECD Watch 

5. Meg Roggensack, Executive Officer, BHRLA

AGAINST the proposition, arguing that the CSDDD is the “beginning of the end”: 

1. Yousuf Aftab, Director, A2

2. Gabrielle Holly, Senior Advisor, Human Rights, Business and Tech, Danish Institute for Human Rights

3. Rae Lindsay, Partner, Clifford Chance LLP and Co-Chair, BHRLA

4. Peter Nestor, Global Head of Human Rights, Novartis 

5. Anita Ramasastry, Professor of Law, University of Washington, former member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

NOTE:  Teams have been randomly assigned and encouraged to embrace and advance their Team’s assigned point of view. For purposes of this debate, and to encourage a freewheeling and thought-provoking discussion, debaters are not speaking   as representatives of their organizational affiliation or reflecting their personal views. 

For more information and details on how BHRLA handles your personal information, please see our privacy policy which can be found on our website