Regulating AI is messy – can the UNGPs assist lawmakers?
Fierce debates on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on human rights were underway long before Generative AI (Gen AI) stormed the stage in 2023. Civil society groups regularly exposed racist predictive policing algorithms, welfare fraud...
09 May 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Lucy Purdon, Founder of Courage Everywhere
How to stop poorly planned climate transitions from sparking civil unrest
From the farmers of southern France to the Wayúu Indigenous people of La Guajira, Colombia and the coal miners of Mpumalanga, South Africa; many communities around the world are living on the frontlines of once-in-a-generation industrial shifts to...
08 May 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Haley St. Dennis, Head of Just Transitions, IHRB
The perception of ‘value’ needs to change if the World Bank’s mission is to succeed
Last week we attended the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C. The annual IMF-World Bank meetings bring together finance ministers and central bankers from all regions as a platform for official...
How should businesses respond to an age of conflict and uncertainty?
As 2024 began, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen aptly summed up our deeply worrying collective moment. As she put it, speaking at the annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland, we are moving through “an era of conflict and...
26 March 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Scott Jerbi, Senior Advisor, Policy & Outreach, IHRB
Bulldozer Injustice: how a company’s product is being used to violate rights in India
Bulldozers have been linked to human rights violations for many years, at least since 2003 when the US activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a Caterpillar bulldozer while protesting against the demolition of a Palestinian home with a family...
07 March 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Peter Frankental, Economic Affairs Programme Director, Amnesty International
The state of just transitions in the cocoa sector
The mounting impacts of the climate crisis are seen starkly in the lives of agricultural workers, most often in developing countries. Discussions around just transitions understandably focus on energy, but agriculture and deforestation are also huge...
29 February 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Tatiana Kurancheva, Commodities Programme, IHRB
Red Sea attacks: response must focus on seafarer rights
The dangerous security situation unfolding in the Red Sea over recent weeks, in which commercial ships have come under attacks from Houthi militia groups, is forcing shipping companies to take extraordinary measures in order to address significant...
09 February 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Steven Jones, CEO, Sustainable Shipping Initiative
Governments must consider the risks of sending migrant workers to conflict zones
This month, officials from India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana (which neighbours Delhi) are hosting a delegation of Israeli businesses seeking workers from the two states for jobs in Israel. The Israel Builders Association requested...
26 January 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Rakesh Ranjan, South Asia Regional Coordinator, IHRB Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Can Davos talk help move climate finance in the right direction?
The dark clouds gathering over Davos at the end of the World Economic Forum are not just of the snow-bearing variety (although it is due to be a very chilly minus 17C tonight). The heaviness comes from a growing sense of an unravelling international...
22 January 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB
The DEI backlash is growing, but Corporate America must stand firm
It is remarkable how quickly the controversy around what constitutes permissible campus speech has turned into a full-frontal attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the United States.
Most recently, what started as robust criticism of...
19 January 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB
Three criticisms of human rights that should be challenged
75 years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt and the other members of the drafting committee presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to the still very young United Nations meeting in war-torn Europe at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris.
Human...
09 December 2023 | Commentary
Commentary by John Morrison, Chief Executive, IHRB
When tech companies must stand firm against state power
Global tech giants are engaged in a battle over human rights in India, the country described as the world’s largest democracy, which is at the half-way stage of its marathon, six-week long elections.
At stake are fundamental concerns of privacy,...
16 May 2024 | Commentary
Commentary by Salil Tripathi, Senior Advisor, Global Issues, IHRB