Voices - Conversations on Business and Human Rights from Around the World

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were adopted 15 years. In this episode, IHRB’s Salil Tripathi speaks to Jane Nelson, the Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy Business School, about whether, in the current climate, the UNGPs are out of touch or more relevant than ever, and how both states and business actors can implement the Principles in the years ahead.

How did the business and human rights movement evolve? What important moments and historic cases have helped shape responsible business today? Anita Ramasastry, Professor of Law at the University of Washington and faculty member on IHRB’s Masters course in Business and Human Rights, joins IHRB’s Salil Tripathi to discuss the evolution of the business and human rights movement by exploring the pivotal moments that shaped it.

Over 60 million people make a living catching, farming and processing seafood. What are the predominant challenges they face? IHRB’s Francesca Fairbairn explores human rights abuses in the global seafood industry with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ian Urbina, who has just released the second series of The Outlaw Ocean Podcast.

In this episode, IHRB’s CEO, John Morrison, and colleague Haley St Dennis, discuss the state of just transitions in 2025, and the urgent need to tackle social, economic and environmental challenges as one, systemic challenge. John shares ideas for how to apply this thinking in practice.

Has the UK Modern Slavery Act introduced in 2015 been effective in eradicating modern slavery? IHRB’s Head of Migrant Workers Programme, Neill Wilkins, speaks to from Eleanor Lyons, the UK's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. They discuss the effectiveness of the legislation; the importance of corporate accountability in the fight to end modern slavery; and the need for more robust measures to ensure greater transparency in supply chains.

The adoption of the UNGPs in 2011 was a seminal moment and acknowledgement of the influence of business on people’s rights. In the years that have passed since then, what have we learned about whether and how companies can respect human rights while pursuing profits? To help answer this question IHRB’s CEO, John Morrison, speaks to Mike Posner, a human rights lawyer, former Assistant Secretary of State under Hilary Clinton, and founder of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University.

The organisations and government bodies responsible for enforcement of labour rights in the UK are fragmented - as they are in many countries around the world. Could proposals to create a single labour enforcement body - a Fair Work Agency - help improve business compliance with labour laws? In this episode, Neill Wilkins (Head of IHRB’s Migrant Workers Programme) delves into UK labour regulation with Joanne Young, CEO of the Association of Labour Providers (ALP).

What is a JETP and why is it so important to the just transition agenda? And what can we learn from South Africa’s JETP progress? IHRB’s Haley St Dennis talks to Yuri Ramkissoon from South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission, who is deeply involved in South Africa’s JETP. Together, they unpack the JETP and explores how this form of climate finance is supporting a just and equitable transition to a low-carbon economy.