Business, Human Rights and the Environment at the European level

With the support of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Nova Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment (NOVA BHRE) organized, in partnership with the Portuguese Ombudsman Office (Provedor de Justiça), the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum, and NOVA 4 The Globe, a webinar series gathering experts from different fields and from various groups of stakeholders to discuss key issues pertaining to Business, Human Rights and the Environment.

The field of Business and Human Rights has attracted growing attention in recent years as many cases have sadly illustrated that companies can cause, contribute or be directly linked to human rights and environmental harms, both in their own operations and in their value chains worldwide. From issues of child labour, forced labour, poor and unsafe working conditions, to environmental damage and the climate-related impact of corporate activities, all sectors are concerned and all internationally recognised human rights can potentially be affected by corporate activities.

Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has shone light on the difficulties arising out of unregulated global supply chains and raised questions in terms of the human rights compatibility of business responses to the crisis.

Against this backdrop, important legislative developments are taking place at the domestic, European and international level seeking to mandate companies to take steps in order to ensure that human rights, decent work and environmental standards are upheld in their operations and in global value chains, thereby also advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The overall aim of the webinar series was to ‘connect the dots’ between corporate due diligence and issues such as civil liability, private international law, contract and company law, the green deal, sustainable finance, and gender equality.

Introductory speeches:

Dussu Djabula, Research Assistant at the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment and President of HeForShe Lisboa: An intersectional perspective on Climate Change.

João Pedro Guimarães, Secretary General of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce: The importance of Business, Human Rights and Sustainability for Portuguese Companies.

Claire Bright, Assistant Professor at Nova School of Law and Director of the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment: Business, Human Rights and Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities.

Corporate Due Diligence and Civil Liability

Thursday 28th of January 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)

Corporate Due Diligence and Private International Law

Thursday 25th of February 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)

Corporate Due Diligence in Contract Law and Company Law

Thursday 25th of March 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)

Corporate Due Diligence and the Green Deal

Thursday 22nd of April 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)

Corporate Due Diligence and Sustainable Finance

Thursday 27th of May 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)

Corporate Due Diligence and Gender Equality

Thursday 24th of June 2021

Time:
14:00 – 16:00 (Lisbon time)