What a privilege we all have, that we get to drive the field of business and human rights forward, to shape it, to expand it. ⭐
I always feel this privilege very strongly during the UN Annual Forum in Geneva. We are in the room - while all the workers, contractors, communities and others we have met during our many human rights impact assessments on the ground, are not. We owe it to them to do the utmost we can to advance with speed, with drive and with intention. ⏩
And advance we did. We had an incredible week, it felt amazing to all be together, to collectively dig deeper, push harder, and become stronger.
I remember the first one. The excitement - this is actually a thing! We’ve created a life beyond the UNGPs with this new entity, the UN Working Group, and this new convening, the UN Annual Forum.
I remember the one where John spoke, and we couldn’t go anywhere without people stopping us to take selfies with him. 📷
I remember the one where the CEOs debated each other in plenary, which led to a number of new internal processes - vive the competitive business spirit. 🥳
I remember the one where all we wanted to speak about was the EU law - a smart mix, ok sure, but can we speak about the law now?
I remember the one where I got to chair the opening forum, and was able to dedicate the forum to John - realising however that no voice can carry in that room and you do have to stay glued to that microphone. Newfound respect for all speakers ever to speak in room XX.
I remember the one where we tackled climate and just transition head on - yes, how could we not?
I remember all of them - except for the one where I was a bit distracted watching while balancing my computer on my tummy (9 months pregnant, not too much Swiss fondue).
And this one in 2024 will be remembered as the one where the community came together to say loud and clear: we will all continue to implement the UNGPs meaningfully and prepare for the EU law, and nothing will stop us. 💪
We discussed our takeaways from the UN Annual Forum at today’s Collective which we’ll post on Linkedin next week, so feel free to check that out.
I absolutely loved ❤️ seeing so many of you this week. And a huge thank you 🙏 to event organisers for the opportunity to speak about just transition at not one, not two, but three side events!
One on just transition and the EU CSDDD, one on worker-centric just transition and what it means for companies, and one on human rights due diligence and refugees in a changing climate. If you missed my interventions, you can check out our briefing notes that we released this week which captures some of the comments I made.
Have a good weekend everyone!
Anna 💫
