Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into the Corporate Context

This study explores the corporate implementation of the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Since their unanimous endorsement by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in 2011, the UNGPs have served as the central reference point for legislative and policy developments in the field of business and human rights. While a soft law initiative, the UNGPs are increasingly being assimilated into national laws, with key concepts such as human rights due diligence (HRDD), now forming the basis of recent national and international legislative initiatives. Despite these developments, little research has been undertaken into how the UNGPs are being implemented and internalised by corporations. 

Drawing on case study research conducted at two multinational companies – 
an oil and gas company and a bank – this study pursues the following objectives: 

1. To examine how human rights are brought into and employed in the corporate space through the implementation of the UNGPs, particularly Pillar II – the corporate responsibility to respect human rights.
2. Identify who is involved in this process, and how these actors understand and translate the UNGPs, human rights and HRDD in different contexts, and in particular
3. Examine how experts legitimise their expertise in the BHR ecosystem and the roles they play in the UNGP implementation process