#54 Michael H. Posner: Views from the U.S. on the Future of Business and Human Rights

There's very little pressure being applied to companies by investors looking at how they're actually behaving and treating human rights as a core business priority. This needs to change.

In this Frankly Speaking episode, we welcome Professor Michael Posner, director of the Centre for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business. He also served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of State. Throughout his career, Mike has played a key role in establishing some of the major global initiatives on responsible business, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the Fair Labor Association, and the Global Network Initiative, and he continues to be one of the leading voices on business and human rights in the United States.

You’ll hear more about:

How too much about business and human rights is still process, not outcome or performance.
Why companies must not abrogate responsibility
A strong call for standards on due diligence and said these are needed if there's going to be genuine accountability for businesses on their conduct
The difficult political situation in the United States at the moment and how to respond to the ESG backlash

Resources:

‍Reimagining Shareholder Advocacy on Environmental and Social Issues: The promise and pitfalls of ‘E&S stewardship’

“I'm not interested if the only outcome of the European due diligence directive is that companies issue more reports, They have more people working in sustainability offices. They have more task forces. They do more evaluations. I want to know, are the workers in your supply chain being treated differently?”

Michael H. Posner in Frankly Speaking