Business and Human Rights Masters Course

2025 Curriculum Handbook

Introduction

Welcome to 2025's Masters Course on Business and Human Rights. This webpage provides full details and reading lists for this year’s lectures. It also provides short biographies of the faculty. All times for lectures are CET.

For those attending in person (weeks 1 and 4), the location is Ulrike Pihls Hus, Professor Keysers Gate 1, 5007 Bergen.

Practical and administrative information on the course, including zoom links for the lectures, can be found online at https://mitt.uib.no (login required).

If you would like to connect with fellow students and lecturers, past and present, please request to join the BHR Masters Course LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8968379/.

Assessment

The assessment is a semester paper/academic essay assigned at the beginning of the semester. It is mandatory to submit a draft of the exam mid-semester, on which you will receive written feedback and comments. There are no specific requirements as to how developed that mandatory submitted draft has to be, but keep in mind that the value, quality, and scope of the feedback is dependent on the effort that you put into the draft.

  • The deadline for submitting the draft will be posted on the MittUiB portal in due course.
  • The draft is to be submitted on the course portal, MittUiB.
  • The final deadline for submitting your exam is: 1400 CET, Monday 8th December 2025.
  • The final exam is to be submitted through the UiB exam portal, Inspera (see Mittuib for details).

Contacts

Feedback

We would be very grateful if you could provide feedback on the lectures/lecturers via this short survey.

Week 1 Day 1: Thursday 18th September

Bergen, Norway

Week 1 Day 1: Thursday 18th September

1430-1630: Introduction - Therese Jebsen, Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt, Andrea Mevold Zakariassen, Salil Tripathi, John Morrison

  • Introduction to Rafto - Therese Jebsen, Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt
  • Introduction to the UIB - Andrea Zakariassen
  • Introduction to IHRB - John Morrison
  • Student Introductions

1630-1645: Break

1645-1715: Course Outline – Salil Tripathi

1715-1745: Academic Writing and Exams – Andrea Zakariassen / Terje Knutsen

1800: Meet at venue, University of Bergen Department of Comparative Politics, Christies gate 15, 5007 Bergen

1800-1845: John Morrison in conversation with Salil Tripathi – Reflections on business and human rights movement

1845: Pizza, drinks

Week 1 Day 2: Friday 19th September

1000-1130: Business and Human Rights: Introduction - Salil Tripathi

Why should business care for human rights? A historical perspective setting out the rationale for the course leading up to the protect-respect-remedy framework. What are the drivers of change? Why do things need to change? Companies respond to positive and negative incentives to change their behaviour. These include statements of ethics and values, consumer activism, shareholder activism, trade union activism, multi-stakeholder initiatives, regulatory changes, legislation.

Required reading:

Additional reading::

1130-1200: Break

1200-1315: Expanding Web of Liabilities - Mark Taylor

Hundreds of human rights and environmental cases against corporations have been launched in countries around the world in the past two decades. This body of what might be called 'counter corporate litigation' involves legal actions seeking to hold business actors to account for alleged violations human rights and involvement in international crimes, or harms to the environment and biosphere. Sometimes these legal actions seek remedies for victims, sometimes they are a form of strategic litigation. Usually they are both.

In this lecture, I will focus on mapping this "expanding web of liabilities", in particular the main patterns of counter corporate litigation and identify the kinds of business activity that give rise to litigation. We will discuss what these patterns tell us about the priorities for business regulation and legal reform, including the integration of human rights and the environment into legal instruments governing corporate activities, transnational approaches to corporate accountability, and a willingness to challenge unsustainable business models.

Reading:

Additional resources:

1315-1415: Lunch Break

1415-1530: Business, Human Rights and Environment - John Morrison

One of the key ways in which businesses can "know and show" that they respect human rights is by having in place human rights policies and due diligence processes aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Over the years, critics have said that business practice has moved too slowly, leading to calls for mandatory measures to require businesses to implement more meaningful HRDD. Recent years have seen an expanding web of new laws and regulations: first aimed at disclosure of steps being taken to counter abuses such as modern slavery, and more recently imposing mandatory requirements for due diligence and access to remedy that are clearly inspired by the UNGP.

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, adopted in 2024, is the most wide-ranging and ambitious example to date. Will these legal measures be a positive force in improving business respect for human rights and holding them to account for adverse impacts across their value chains? Or will these laws prove to be little more than a driver for tick-box compliance, or worse still result in perverse outcomes that fail to improve the outlook for individuals and communities who are adversely affected by transnational business?

Reading:

  • UN Human Rights "Issues Paper" on legislative proposals for mandatory human rights due diligence by companies (June 2020)

Optional:

1530-1600: Break

1600-1715 Diplomat, Executive, Activist, Prisoner: Vicky Bowman

Vicky Bowman, Senior Adviser at IHRB, worked variously as a British diplomat and in the European Commission, for a major mining company, Rio Tinto, and set up an NGO platform, the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, which led her to spend three months in a Myanmar jail. Vicky is now involved in various multistakeholder initiatives on business and human rights,  in mining, tech and private security. She and Salil Tripathi will reflect on the value of working for different types of stakeholder, and how this enhanced her work in Myanmar.

Reading: None

Week 1 Day 3: Saturday 20th September

1000-1115: Introduction to the Business and Human Rights Framework: the Alphabet Soup of BHR - Anita Ramasastry

International human rights law is normative. The frameworks that apply to business and human rights are drawn from UN declarations, conventions, protocols, and norms. The class will show the evolution in the UN system leading up to the negotiations for a binding treaty.

Required reading:

Additional suggested reading:

  • Just Business: Multinational Corporations and Human Rights, John Ruggie (2013)

1115-1145: Break

1145-1300: Compliance Across Jurisdictions – Joanne O’Donnell

The presentation will provide a comprehensive overview of key human rights and environmental regulations across the EU, USA, and globally that are integrated into the various stages of the product lifecycle from raw material sourcing, workforce, design and manufacture, to advertising and waste/disposal. The goal is to equip participants with the knowledge to navigate these complex requirements by outlining key obligations and recent developments.

The presentation will also cover the shift from voluntary to mandatory compliance, as well as trends such as stricter enforcement and increase in litigation. In addition, it will also address challenges and best practices in ensuring human rights and environmental regulatory compliance. The presentation will conclude with some ‘key takeaways’ and tools to help attendees navigate the continued avalanche of new laws and regulations.

Reading:

1300-1400: Lunch break

1400-1515: Norwegian Pension Fund and Ethical Responsibility of Investors - Pia Rudolfsson Goyer

Goyer's lecture is about how investors work with human rights risk in their investment work, with a particular emphasis on the Norwegian oil fund. Goyer shares her experiences from her work for the Fund's Council on Ethics, where she worked with human rights cases for 12 years. 

Reading:

1515-1545: Lunch break

1545-1700:Threats to Business and Human Rights Agenda from a Deglobalising World (TBC) - Anita Ramasastry

TBC

TBC Reading:

Week 1 Day 4: Sunday 21st September

1000-1115: Why Should Companies Do Due Diligence? – Ron Popper (online)

Companies need to carry out human rights due diligence to prevent, mitigate and, if necessary, remediate potential or actual harms to people impacted by their operations and business relationships. What does effective due diligence look like, and which core steps do companies need to take to ensure their due diligence governance and approach is more than a tick-box exercise? In this introduction to due diligence, Ron will draw on his own experience as a business and human rights practitioner, and examine what serious due diligence looks like, some of the internal and external expectations of company performance, and provide examples from different parts of the world of what happens when a company fails to carry out appropriate due diligence or ignores expert advice. 

Reading:

1115-1145: Break

1145-1300: Why Sustainability and Compliance with International Standards Matter for all Companies - Malin Helgesen

In this session, we will discuss how the rapid changes to our physical environment, coupled with the decline of democracy and rule of law, are leading to substantially decreased access to raw materials, productive workforces, a stable financial system and other fundamental bases for business resilience and growth. In thshiftis context, we will explore whether sustainable business practices impede competitiveness or can act as a catalyst for business resilience and growth through the implementation of international human rights standards such as the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.  

Reading - compulsory:

Voluntary:

  • Shift: Climate Action and Human Rights - How the UN Guiding Principles can help companies respect human rights when responding to climate change. 
  • Transformative business models: Case study on Veja by the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights 
  • Blog by Günter Thallinger, Allianz SE, on Climate, Risk, Insurance: The Future of Capitalism 

1300-1400: Lunch break

1400-1515: HR Due Diligence in the Garment Supply Chain – Andrei Vasiliev

In this lecture, Andrei will explore how meaningful stakeholder engagement can be integrated into the day-to-day practice of human rights due diligence. Drawing on field experience, he will share lessons from efforts to provide access to remedy and manage critical human rights cases—highlighting both the operational challenges and the potential for shared accountability in driving long-term change in supply chains.

Reading:

1515-1545: Break

1545-1700: Child Labour in Supply Chains (Case Study) – Salil Tripathi

The class will discuss the case of child labour use in supply chains. The lecture will also cover other instances, including Coca-Cola and sugar in Central America, garment industry in India, and sports goods manufacture in Pakistan.

Reading:

Week 2: Fri 10th-Sun 12th Oct

Virtual

Week 2 Day 1: Friday 10th October

1300-1415: The Rise of China and its Impact on Climate and Human Rights - Isabel Hilton

China is now the world’s second largest economy and a major global investor. It also has a distinct approach to human rights and an announced intention to rewrite the global rules on this and a number of other established norms.  Can it succeed and what would it mean for human rights? 

TBC Reading:

TBC Additional optional resources:

1415-1445: Break

1445-1600: Oil and Nigeria – Nnimmo Bassey

Oil, Human Rights, the Environment and the Niger Delta explores the state of oil in the Niger Delta, by examining the current state of play in the region, the continued impunity and recent landmark reports on the human and environmental health conditions. The lecture also looks at “divestment” moves by international oil companies to avoid responsibilities for almost 7 decades of environmental genocide. Also reviewed are the future of fossils and implications forthe wider region. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the Niger Delta struggles for socioecological alternatives and equally look at lessons for the rest of Africa.

Optional reading:

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: Gender-based Discrimination and Corporate Issues - Harpreet Kaur

TBC This class will examine gender-based discrimination and the role of companies to prevent discrimination, harassment, and bullying, and ensuring equality for workers, consumers, and the society. The class will also introduce the gender guidance on the UNGPs from the UN Working Group.

Reading:

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: Just Transitions: What Communities Want; What Businesses Can Learn - Haley St Dennis

Transitions succeed when they are shaped from the ground up. This lecture highlights stories of just transitions in practice: from coal closures in Australia to activating the informal economy in India, forthcoming features on housing decarbonisation in Spain and agroforestry solutions in Brazil. We will also draw on practitioner insights into the “costs of green conflict” in renewable energy projects globally, and implementing the “justice” dimensions of catalytic climate finance platforms like Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) in South Africa and Indonesia. Together these perspectives help reveal how businesses can better align with community priorities to build trust-based and resilience-oriented pathways.

Reading: 

Week 2 Day 2: Saturday 11th October

1300-1415: Cultural Rights and the Extractive Sector and Wider Indigenous Issues – Deanna Kemp

TBC In May 2020, the mining company Rio Tinto destroyed rock shelters of considerable cultural and historic significance at Juukan Gorge, near the Brockman Iron Ore Mine, in Pilbara, Western Australia. Human rights and environmental groups protested; the community was outraged; investors revolted; the company apologized; and major personnel changes took place. The class will discuss the case.

Reading:

1415-1445: Break

TBC 1445-1600: Dalits and Discrimination – Beena Pallical

Over 210 million people live across Asia today who face caste based discrimination or discrimination based on work and descent; that is, basis of their birth into certain castes/social groups and their traditional ‘unclean’ occupations of the lowest status. They are distinguished by their segregated living spaces with severely restricted access to public and private services of housing, water and sanitation, health, education, markets, land and employment. As a consequence, there is a large gap between the general population and populations facing discrimination based on work and descent in terms of most human development indicators, with women from the discriminated communities at the bottom of the scale. In addition, in many of the affected countries persons facing discrimination based on work and descent also are targeted for severe forms of violence based on their excluded identity, often with impunity. The community in South Asia are called Dalits and are engaged in the most ‘unclean’ and menial occupation. Incidence of violence remain persistent in different forms like murder, individual and gang rape, physical assault, verbal abuse and discrimination in various sectors like education, jobs in the corporates and gender and caste based discrimination continue unabated. Women in particular experience many forms of discrimination arising from their low social position in the caste system. Similar forms of discrimination exist in Africa, Latin America and Europe.

This session will delve into the issues regarding caste and Descent based discrimination and how this has percolated to the corporate and private sector. While laws exist the businesses are caste blind and as a result several cases of discrimination has emerged not just in Asia but also in countries like the US. This session will discuss on what companies can do, what mechanisms they can have to address prevent discrimination in the workplace. 

Reading (most of these are short articles):

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: LGBT (TBC) - Frank Mugisha

What role can business play to mitigate harm from discrimination against vulnerable groups such as LGBTI people? Frank Mugisha of Sexual Minorities in Uganda will walk through the role of companies and what business can do. Salil Tripathi will introduce the UN standards of conduct for business with regard to LGBT rights.

Reading:

Additional reading:

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Business & Human Rights - Erika George

The current U.S. Government is attempting to rewrite the rules of Diversity, Equity Inclusion to align with a “Make America Great Again” worldview: what does that mean for the world? This class will unpack the impact of the policy shift in the U.S. and the varied ways companies, campuses, and courts are responding to demands that DEI be dismantled. It will provide an overview of the broader consequences of redefining organizational priorities in response to political pressures. Corporate purpose and values as reflected in the policies, practices, and public statements of business enterprises on inclusion, diversity, equity and access issues will be reviewed through the responsibility to respect framework of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Human Rights.

TBC Reading:

Week 2 Day 3: Sunday 12th October

1300-1415: Migrant Labour/Forced Labour in Supply Chains - Bonny Ling

In spite of laws abolishing forced labour and regulatory changes to protect migrant workers, many industries rely on temporary foreign workers who are vulnerable to labour abuses. They often work under high risks of debt bondage through a flawed system of recruitment and then face abusive living and working conditions, exploitation, withholding of wage, retention of personal identification, threats and intimidation and violence. The lecture will introduce the scale of the problem, the industries that are particularly vulnerable, the complexities posed by the pandemic, and raise questions about what can be done about the situation.

Required readings:

Additional readings:

1415-1445: Break

1445-1600: Accountability: Ethical Trade and Sustainable Supply Chain: - Heidi Furustøl

TBC Globalisation has created complex supply chains where goods are manufactured in distant parts of the world and sold in distant consumer markets, with many intermediaries in between, including agents and brands. How practical is it for supply chains to reflect ethical behaviour and conform to international standards, and what powers do consumers have? This lecture will include an introduction to the new Norwegian Transparency Act.

Reading:

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: Human Rights Across Complex Supply Chains – Duncan Warner

The products we buy and use every day often come from some of the most recognised retailers in the world. As consumers, we expect these companies to have carefully considered a range of factors in how they source and produce these goods. Yet, retail supply chains are inherently complex and nebulous. They often stretch across the globe, involve many tiers, and can be characterised by opaque practices that impact vulnerable rightsholders who may not be afforded the protections many take for granted. This complexity can limit a company’s ability to trace impacts, deliver suitable due diligence and effectively leverage influence – so when there are so many products and risks where do you start? How do you generate business engagement and commence the process for mapping, understanding and remediating rights holder impacts? When you find them, what do you do and who can support you? 

This lecture will explore how large, diverse businesses such as retailers can align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It will examine the practical and ethical challenges they face, from limited traceability to the difficulties of operating responsibly potentially many tiers and time zones away from those most at risk of impact whilst ensuring businesses understand the risks and realities of impactful remediation and obligations based on actions and omissions.

Readings:

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: Just Transitions and Climate Finance - Nick Robins

The climate crisis poses a significant challenge to human life. But steps taken to mitigate those risks also create human rights challenges, including loss of jobs and the need for retraining workforce. Governments and businesses have to undertake significant cost-benefit analyses to arrive at just solutions that seek to protect the planet while ensuring livelihoods. The lecture will look at the role finance can play and how human rights framework can inform policy-making. Participants are asked to identify a practical example from their own experience where the just transition imperative has come alive which can then be discussed in the session.

Reading:

Week 3: Fri 31st Oct-Sun 2nd Nov

Virtual

Week 3 Day 1: Friday 31st October - Technology

1300-1415: Tech Privacy and Human Rights - Iain Levine

Protection of human rights in the digital world is an existential challenge for the human rights movement , especially with the rapid development of AI. The class will cover some of the critical opportunities and challenges for human rights in the digital world, will track some of the key geopolitical trends impacting the discourse around digital rights and then will deep-dive into my own experiences working for the human rights team at Meta. We will look at the relevance of the UNGPs for developing a human rights policy; human rights due diligence and impact assessments; the challenge of stakeholder engagement - especially with underrepresented communities; protecting human rights defenders, racial and religious minorities, women and LGBTQ communities; crisis and conflict. We will also touch on the respective role of advocates within the company and those outside and how their efforts frequently don't align.

Reading:

1415-1445: Break

1445-1600: Regulating Digital Rights: How Multi-stakeholder Collaboration in Technology can Support Freedom of Expression and Privacy - Vicky Bowman

Tech companies and users need to be regulated, but how to strike is the right balance between protection and overreach? This session will draw on current challenges and examples, and the role of the Global Network Initiative in promoting accountability and good practice.

Reading:

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: AI and BHR - Salil Tripathi and Scott Jerbi

This session aims to stimulate a discussion on the profound and multifaceted impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on human rights, corporate responsibility and sustainability. To what extent are companies who develop and use AI tools currently identifying and addressing risks to rights-holders? How should governments, businesses and other stakeholders be working together to prevent AI related harms and maximise benefits for all, and how can international human rights principles and standards be part of the governance of this emerging domain?

A host of AI risks must be confronted, from disinformation and threats to privacy, reinforcement of and potential weaponisation of biases, to widespread discriminatory outcomes and job losses, as well as risks linked to monetisation of data, use in armed conflict, and significant energy consumption and related risks of new AI data centers, among others. At the same time, AI holds enormous potential for our world if responsibly deployed, and AI tools could help companies in undertaking ongoing human rights due diligence. 

This session is an opportunity to discuss early efforts by businesses and other actors to develop and integrate responsible AI principles that balance innovation with sustainability and rights protection. In addition to examples by individual companies, we will discuss emerging governance initiatives and regulatory frameworks —such as the EU AI Act, OECD AI Principles, UNESCO’s recommendations on AI ethics, and the UN’s Global Digital Compact and Global Dialogue on AI Governance — with the aim of unpacking whether human rights principles and standards such as the UNGPs are part of ongoing efforts in ensuring greater corporate transparency, accountability, and fairness in AI development and deployment. 

Suggested Readings

Regulatory materials: 

Additional optional readings:

  • How Moral Can AI Really Be? (Paul Bloom, The New Yorker) 
  • If AI Systems Became Conscious, Should they have Rights? (Yuval Noah Harari, NY Times) 
  • The Artificial State (Jill Lepore, New Yorker) 
  •  Kate Crawford, Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence (Yale University Press, 2021)
  • Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (PublicAffairs, 2019)
  • Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar The Coming Wave (Crown, 2025)
  • Sasha Luccioni et al., “Estimating the Carbon Footprint of Machine Learning Training Events” (arXiv, 2019)

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: Unpacking Fairphone: Systemic & Circular Thinking for Ethical Electronics – Sean Ansett

In a world addicted to rapid technological turnover and opaque supply chains, Fairphone stands as a radical experiment in ethical consumer electronics. This session explores the Fairphone journey as a living case study in systemic and circular thinking.

Through the lens of Fairphone’s bold experiment, we’ll explore how a single company is attempting to rewire an exploitative system by embedding human rights and circular economy principles into its core business model. Key themes include responsible mineral sourcing, the right to a living wage, labor rights in global supply chains, product modularity as a path to consumer empowerment, and designing out waste.

Through Fairphone’s evolution, students will gain insight into the interconnected nature of social, environmental, and economic challenges in the electronics sector.

This class challenges will challenge participants to critically assess the role of business in upholding—or undermining—human rights, and to explore the potential and limits of ethical innovation in high-impact industries.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

  • Analyze how systems thinking is applied in real-world sustainable business models.
  • Evaluate the trade-offs and tensions in ethical sourcing and production.
  • Map circular economy strategies in product design and supply chains.
  • Reflect on the role of consumer behavior, policy, and activism in transforming industries.

Format: Interactive case study from one of the company’s founding team members. 

Reading:

Week 3 Day 2: Saturday 1st November

1300-1415: National Contact Points as Remedy - Frode Elgesem

The lecture will follow up on the importance of accountability and access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights impacts and examine the OECD National Contact Points as a non-judicial complaint mechanism and its effectiveness in offering remedy.

Required reading:

Optional resources:

1415-1445: Break

1445-1600: Role of Investors in Enforcing Accountability – Elisabeth Andvig

The lecture will assess how Norway's systematic approach to transparency and engagement has developed over time, examining both successes and limitations of this model. Attendees will gain insights into evaluation methodologies, engagement strategies, and practical implementation, offering lessons for institutional investors considering how different approaches to responsible investment might align with their own contexts and objectives while balancing sustainability goals with fiduciary responsibilities. Different milestones in defining the ethical criteria for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund, looking at minority shareholder responsibility, and stewardship practice in the context of ESG-backlash will be explored. 

Reading:

Suggested additional reading:

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: Corruption, Business, and Human Rights - Morten Koch Andersen

This lecture will introduce students to the social practice of corruption and its relations and interactions with human rights. It will introduce students to different theoretical aspects of corruption and how they relate to human rights perspectives. The issue of organised and cross-border/transnational crime in the intersection with state and businesses will be used as an entry point to situate the theoretical approaches in context and unfold analysis and discussions.

Reading:

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: The Human Rights Impacts of Tariffs on Supply Chains – Sanchita Banerjee Saxena

Despite the claims of many global brands to engage in responsible sourcing practices, it is far more common for them to engage in transactional or indirect relationships with their suppliers in the global South. Research has shown, however, that a partnership or direct relationship model can create better business opportunities for both sides, as well as contribute to better labor conditions, especially during times of crisis. This class will introduce the concept of shared responsibility in global supply chains by focusing on the impetus for rethinking these relationships, the reality of the partnership model as it stands, and what elements are needed to truly build collaborative and resilient relationships. The class will include a lecture on these topics and small group work to brainstorm a new partnership model.

Reading:

Week 3 Day 3: Sunday 2nd November

1300-1415: Business and Human Rights – The Role of Human Rights Defenders – Therese Jebsen and Salil Tripathi

Human rights defenders and businesses have historically viewed one another with deep suspicion. Business often sees HRDs as disruptors who want to stop projects from going ahead, or pressing demands that make normal business operations difficult. Even their peaceful activism leads some businesses to call upon security forces for protection. The security forces have in several instances used force disproportionately, arresting HRDs. In some cases, there have been extra-judicial executions. Lawsuits too have been filed. Activists see businesses as entities who are powerful and connected with the state, and part of the problem, not part of the solution. 

Many companies have moved on from that divisive approach, and have either initiated stakeholder consultation programmes in which they invite HRDs who are critical of the companies' activities, or defended their right to dissent. Some believe that HRDs and businesses have common grounds and common interests, such as the rule of law and a level playing field. 

The class will examine the emerging landscape, including the notion of 'shared space,' and take part in a set of exercises about what a company should do in three specific cases. 

Readings: 

Optional Additional Readings:

1415-1445: Break

1445-1600: What Does the Field of Business & Human Rights Offer Workers and Trade Unions? – Ruwan Subasinghe

The vast majority of workers producing goods and providing services to the largest global multinationals are not directly employed. Instead, multinationals operate through contractual relationships within a non-transparent network of suppliers. This often makes them immune from legal accountability, as there is often no legal cause for action when violations occur in supplying companies. At the same time, workers are also often impeded from seeking justice against local companies, which are often under-resourced, thus making them effectively judgment-proof. Moreover, multinationals tend to prefer business relationships in countries with low wages, weak labour laws and ineffective judicial systems. Trade unions fighting to improve conditions in these countries are up against foreign chambers of commerce blocking minimum living wages or regulations designed to ensure safe and secure work.

The UNGPs, the OECD MNE Guidelines, the ILO MNE Declaration, and current and emerging corporate accountability legislation at the national, regional and global level offer trade unions and workers a concrete framework to effectively realise their human rights, including the enabling rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. In this lecture, we will explore trade union strategies, success stories and the ever-increasing challenges in this space.  

Reading:

1600-1630: Break

1630-1745: OECD Guidelines as a Framework for Business and Human Rights (with group exercise) – Bettina Braun

The session will focus on how the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and OECD Guidance on Responsible Business Conduct can provide practical support to enterprises in implementing risk-based due diligence, aligned with international standards. The OECD has developed guidance and tools to explain key elements of due diligence, such as the involvement framework, and provides sectoral guidance. A class exercise will dive deeper into step 6 of the OECD due diligence cycle – providing for and cooperating in remediation.

Reading:

1745-1815: Break

1815-1930: Operating in Occupied Territories - Western Sahara Example – Erik Hagen and Asria Mohamed; Commentary by Mark Taylor

Western Sahara is treated by the United Nations as the last unresolved colonial issue in Africa and the territory’s people have the right to self-determination and independence. This right is rejected by neighbouring country Morocco, which occupies the territory. Corporations – primarily in the sectors of renewable energy, fisheries, minerals and infrastructure – strike deals with Morocco for exploitation of the territory’s resources, without taking into account the applicable international law. International courts repeatedly conclude on the Saharawi people’s side. Western Sahara Resource Watch will present how they expose the foreign corporate activities in the territory, and how they challenge them, with success.

Reading:

Week 4: Fri 21st-Sun 23rd Nov

Bergen, Norway

Week 4 Day 1: Friday 21st November

1000-1115: Due Diligence in the Extractive Sector – Froydis Cameron-Johansson

In a world where the supply of critical metals and minerals are key to the low carbon energy transition, how does responsible business navigate the human rights landscape from early-stage exploration in remote areas, to project development (often with joint venture partners, usually governments) through the logistics and supply chains and on to closure or divestment?

Using real examples, we will step through the key challenges and considerations a responsible company would go through to practically apply the UNGP’s and VPSHR.

Reading: None

1115-1145: Break

1145-1300: Shipping and Human Rights – Francesca Fairbairn

When we think of supply chains we tend to think of mines or farms, construction workers or factories, possibly fulfilment warehouses or retail stores, cars or phones. But between every stage of processing, stuff is transported, mostly by ship. 90% of world trade travels by sea. Raw materials may end up make many journeys by ship before they reach their end consumer. And all of this is managed and delivered by the world's merchant navy: 1.8 million seafarers on 60,000 vessels. Who is responsible for their welfare?

Reading:

1300-1400: Lunch

1400-1515: Challenges for the Extractive Sector, Hydro - Nina Schefte

TBC The Norwegian extractive sector has made significant pledges to work towards sustainability. Norway also has an exemplary programme to channel oil revenues towards public good through the investments of its sovereign wealth fund. Marte Stensrud has led work on social responsibility at Equinor, and Nina Schefte, at Hydro, two large Norwegian companies in the extractive sector. In this conversation they will share dilemmas, experiences, challenges, and solutions the companies have developed, through examining corporate conduct, stakeholder engagement, and sustainability principles.

Reading:

1515-1545: Break

1545-1700: Post-conflict Reconstruction - Giulio Ferrini

This lecture examines the role of business in post-conflict reconstruction, where decisions are often made in fragile governance contexts. We will explore both the opportunities and risks that companies face—ranging from mobilising capital and expertise to the potential for complicity in human rights abuses. Key themes include understanding conflict histories, addressing corruption and exclusion, integrating sustainability into rebuilding, and prioritising human dignity alongside infrastructure. Drawing on international standards and global case studies, we will discuss how businesses can contribute to more just and sustainable post-conflict futures.

Reading:

TBC 1700

Week 4 Day 2: Saturday 22nd November

1000-1115: The Business and Human Rights Treaty and its Future – Anita Ramasastry (online)

TBC

TBC Reading:

1115-1145: Break

1145-1300: Corporate Complicity in Armed Conflict - Mark Taylor

TBC

TBC Reading:

1300-1400: Lunch

1400-1515: Operating in High-Risk Environments:  Gerald Pachoud

This session examines the dilemmas companies face when operating in fragile and conflict-affected settings, where governance gaps, violence, and geopolitical tensions heighten risks for both people and business. Building on the UN Guiding Principles, it examines the concept of Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence , and explores its application through real-world cases. Students will critically assess how businesses identify and prioritize salient risks, engage with diverse stakeholders under pressure, and navigate trade-offs between legal liability, reputational exposure, and operational continuity, while maintaining a rights-respecting approach in complex environments.

Reading:

1515-1545: Break

1545-1700: Conflict and Humanitarian Law: Challenges for Business in High-Risk Areas – Claude Voillat

Businesses may wish to avoid operating in or being associated with conflict-affected regions or high risk areas, but many of them do not have that luxury. When operating in conflict-affected regions, businesses run the risk of triggering adverse impacts both on the conflict dynamics as well as on the people and communities, either directly though their operations or indirectly through their products, services or relationships. 

The session will explore the particular context of conflict environments, the laws that businesses are expected to uphold and the legal protections they enjoy in such environments, etc. The lecture will be delivered by a former official of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who has worked closely with conflicts for +30 years and is passionate about the challenges of business activities in such environments.

Reading:

Additional non-compulsory reading:

Dinner speaker: Conversation with IHRB's new CEO - Brandee Butler

Week 4 Day 3: Sunday 23rd November

0900-1015: Benchmarking and Measuring Corporate Human Rights Performance - Namit Agarwal

In this lecture, Namit will explore how data-driven tools such as the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) are transforming the way we assess and hold companies accountable for their human rights impacts. Drawing on CHRB’s latest trends, the session will highlight persistent gaps in human rights due diligence, remedy, and supply chain transparency, areas where corporate performance remains weak despite growing regulatory and investor pressure. Namit will examine how benchmarking not only reveals sector and company-level performance but also drives change by creating a common standard, enabling stakeholder engagement, and pushing companies to improve over time. The lecture will also reflect on the strategic use of benchmarks to influence policy, investor engagement, and corporate behaviour in an increasingly complex global landscape.

Reading

1015-1045: Break

1045-1200: The Power of Listening - Harpreet Kaur

Dialogue with workers, communities, and other affected stakeholders is becoming a core expectation of responsible business. Yet many corporate engagements remain one-way or compliance-driven, missing the opportunity to surface early warning signals, prevent conflict, and build long-term trust.

  • Designing dialogue processes that move beyond consultation checklists toward genuine participation
  • Navigating disagreement and power asymmetries without escalating conflict
  • Translating authentic stakeholder dialogue into credible action and corporate accountability

Participants will work through short scenarios and practice reframing difficult exchanges to keep dialogue constructive while advancing both business resilience and human rights commitments.

Reading:

1200-1230: Break

1230-1330: “Last Lecture” – Salil Tripathi

As we end the course, some questions for the future. What is the purpose of a company? What should it do? Who does it benefit? Who does it serve? What should individuals working for companies do? What should drive their conduct?

Not required reading but worth reflection:

Meet the faculty

Namit Agarwal

Head of Social, World Benchmarking Alliance
Morten Koch Andersen

Acting director of research and education and senior researcher, Raoul Wallenberg Institute
Elisabeth Andvig

Senior Investment Stewardship Manager at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)
Sean Ansett

President, At Stake Advisors
Nnimmo Bassey

Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF)

Vicky Bowman

Senior Advisor, IHRB
Bettina Braun

Policy Analyst - on Access to Remedy, OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct
Froydis Cameron-Johansson

Global Head of Health Safety Environment and Security, Rio Tinto
Frode Elgesem

Chair, National Contact Point, Norway; judge, Borgarting Court of Appeal
Francesca Fairbairn

Oceans, Commodities, and Academy Programme Manager, IHRB
Giulio Ferrini

Head of Built Environment, IHRB
Heidi Furustøl

Executive Director, Ethical Trade Norway
Erika George

Professor of Law, Boston University
Pia Rudolfsson Goyer

Former Senior Advisor, Council on Ethics, Norwegian Government Pension Fund
Erik Hagen

Director, Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
Malin Helgesen
Isabel Hilton

Founder China Dialogue; Visiting Professor, the Lau Institute KCL; contributing editor Prospect
Therese Jebsen

Senior Advisor, Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
Scott Jerbi

Senior Advisor, Policy & Outreach, IHRB
Dr Harpreet Kaur

Business and Human Rights Specialist, United Nations Development Programme, Bangkok Regional Hub
Deanna Kemp

Co-Chair of Trustees, IHRB; Director, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining
Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt

Executive Director, Rafto Foundation; Director, IHRB Nordic
Iain Levine

Director, Human Rights Policy, Meta

Bonny Ling

Executive Director, Work Better Innovations
Asria Mohamed

Information officer, Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara
John Morrison

Chief Executive, IHRB
Frank Mugisha

Executive Director, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), Rafto Laureate, Human Rights Defender
Joanne O'Donnell

Head of Global Regulatory Compliance, Compliance & Risks
Gerald Pachoud

Managing Partner, Pluto & Associates, former Principal Officer in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary General

Beena Pallical

Chair, Dalit Arthik, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights; Rafto laureate
Ron Popper

Co-Chair of Trustees, IHRB; CEO, Global Business Initiative on Human Rights
Anita Ramasastry

Henry M. Jackson Prof of Law University of Washington; former member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
Nick Robins

Professor in Practice - Sustainable Finance, London School of Economics
Haley St. Dennis

Head of Just Transitions, IHRB
Dr Sanchita Banerjee Saxena

Public Policy and Human Rights Expert; Lecturer
Nina Schefte

Head of Social Responsibility, Group Sustainability, Norsk Hydro
Ruwan Subasinghe

Legal Director, International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF)
Mark Taylor

Author of War Economies and International Law
Salil Tripathi

Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Andrei Vasiliev

Responsible Sourcing, Social Impact Manager, BESTSELLER
Claude Voillat

Independent consultant
Duncan Warner

Senior Responsible Sourcing and Human Rights Manager, ASDA